Sen. Rand Paul finds the silver lining in Dr. Anthony Fauci's announcement that he's 'not going to retire' after all

Sarah D | 12:58 PM on July 19, 2022

Yesterday, Politico published a piece about Dr. Anthony Fauci’s impending retirement:

After more than five decades of federal service under seven presidents, Anthony Fauci says he’s leaving by the end of President Joe Biden’s term. In a wide-ranging interview with POLITICO, he spoke of his legacy, the hard truths about the country’s pandemic response and his desire to calm the politicization wracking the country.

“We’re in a pattern now. If somebody says, ‘You’ll leave when we don’t have Covid anymore,’ then I will be 105. I think we’re going to be living with this,” Biden’s chief medical adviser said when asked whether he is staying in his role out of a sense of obligation.

…

Fauci says he’s prepared for the onslaught of attacks that could come in a Republican-controlled House or Senate next year — with many running in the midterms on campaigns deriding the lockdowns, school closures and masking requirements that Fauci said were necessary pandemic precautions — but insists that is not part of his calculus for retirement.

Fast-forward to today, when Fauci clarified his earlier comments:

JUST IN: Fauci: "I’m not going to retire" https://t.co/vTvqxqEYC1 pic.twitter.com/MjyBzY0a6I

— The Hill (@thehill) July 19, 2022

More from The Hill:

“I’m not going to retire. No, no, I’m not going to retire. I may step down from my current position at some time,” Fauci told The Hill contributing editor Steve Clemons.

He said that he had been asked if he would continue working for the federal government if former President Trump won in the 2024 presidential election. Trump is widely expected to announce his intentions for the 2024 election later this year.

“I said a very innocent but true thing. I said whether it’s Donald Trump or it’s Joe Biden’s second term, I don’t intend to be in my current position in January of 2025,” Fauci said.

“What happens between now and then I have not decided, but the one thing I do know is that I have other things that I want to do in a professional way that I want to have the capability — while I still have the energy and the passion to do them.”

OK, so it sounds like he’s still very much interested in being a public health figure. Which may seem like a bummer and major annoyance to most of us, but leave it to GOP Sen. Rand Paul to find the silver lining:

https://twitter.com/RandPaul/status/1549413326282792960

We look forward to that as well. Fauci’s already walked into several traps set by Sen. Paul, and, having clearly learned nothing, is on track to walk into even more.