Billy Bush Slams Dr. Anthony Fauci for Pleading the Fifth at Tense Senate Hearing Despite Physician's Previous Work With Cousin George W. Bush

Former Extra host Billy Bush criticized Dr. Anthony Fauci on his digital media platform “Hot Mics” for invoking his Fifth Amendment right over 100 times during a contentious Senate hearing led by Sen. Rand Paul.

Dr. Fauci appeared before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, chaired by Paul.

Citing advice from counsel and accusing Paul of an "unhinged obsession" aimed at putting him behind bars, Dr. Fauci declined to answer questions and repeatedly pleaded the Fifth Amendment instead.

Bush slammed the decision, sparking heavy public debate and mixed reactions from listeners who compared it to past political controversies, including the time President Donald Trump invoked his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination more than 440 times during an August 2022 deposition for the New York Attorney General's investigation into the Trump Organization's fraudulent financial practices.

“It did not play well in my view,” the 54-year-old cousin of former president George W. Bush opined.

Bush baselessly suggested Dr. Fauci was part of a "cover-up" regarding the coronavirus lab-leak theory, arguing it is "unbelievable" that he does not have to answer for his role.

He stated that despite a potential pardon, Dr. Fauci must answer for his "integral" role in a pandemic that led to "$17 trillion in global debt."

Bush characterized it as "unbelievable" that after 40 years on the job, Dr. Fauci "had no idea if masks were effective" when COVID-19 first struck.

High-quality masks were highly effective at preventing the individual spread of COVID-19. While in early 2020, Dr. Fauci and other public health officials explicitly advised the general public against wearing masks, by April 2020, as data emerged showing widespread asymptomatic transmission and airborne viral spread, Dr. Fauci and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reversed their stance.

Dr. Fauci became a staunch advocate for masking, public mandates and the use of masks as an essential tool in the pandemic response toolbox.

While it is impossible to attribute an exact number of saved lives to a single person, public health initiatives spearheaded by Dr. Fauci are widely credited with saving at least 20 to 25 million lives globally.

Because public health outcomes rely on large-scale research teams, healthcare systems and healthcare workers, experts examine the specific global programs and policies he helped design to estimate his impact.

Dr. Fauci was a principal architect of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), which was launched under Billy’s cousin, President George W. Bush, in 2003.

As the most successful life-saving public health initiative for a single disease in history, the program has saved an estimated 25 million lives by delivering antiretroviral drugs to resource-poor countries.

As a lead researcher at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), his clinical work in the 1980s and 1990s helped develop the combination drug therapies that turned HIV from a fatal diagnosis into a manageable, chronic condition.

As a chief medical adviser, Dr. Fauci oversaw and funded the rapid development of mRNA technology through NIAID.

Public health studies estimate the resulting U.S. vaccination campaign saved 3.2 million American lives and prevented nearly 20 million deaths globally in its first year alone.

Billy Bush graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies and Government from Colby College in 1994.

NBC fired him after a now-infamous 2005 Access Hollywood recording surfaced in which he was heard laughing and joking with Donald Trump as Trump made lewd comments about women.