Bill Maher torched Anthony Fauci's ego as the real casualty of the pandemic.
The HBO host devoted the closing "New Rule" segment of his Aug. 8 "Real Time" broadcast to Fauci, arguing that the former government scientist let celebrity worship warp his judgment during the COVID-19 crisis. Maher told his audience the doctor showed clear signs of what he called "main character syndrome," a condition fed by Hollywood praise and left-wing adulation.
Much of the segment drew on Fauci's personal diary, which Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul released in late July. Reading aloud from the entries, Maher recited Fauci's own words about his fame. (RELATED: Rand Paul Hilariously Dunks On Uninformed Liberal Pundit)
"It is not hyperbole to say I am the most famous and talked about person in the country. The nurses went absolutely wild to see me. I am such a valued spokesperson and a good communicator. One person said that Tyra Banks was sexy, but I was even more sexy than she was," Maher read, according to the broadcast. He then quipped that the passage came from Fauci rather than former President Donald Trump.
Maher faulted Fauci for backing lengthy school shutdowns, for masking toddlers, and for insisting that prior infection did not substitute for vaccination. Those positions, Maher suggested, tracked what Fauci's celebrity admirers wanted rather than sound science. "It was Julia Roberts who was telling Fauci he was Jesus with a petri dish. Not Randy Quaid," he said.
The comedian summed up his case with a blunt line about the doctor's downfall. "Turns out the really dangerous 'intimate contact' wasn't shaking hands, it was kissing ass," Maher said.
Maher stopped short of endorsing the harsher attacks Fauci faces from the right. He called the doctor "very very far away from being a criminal" and mocked Paul for publishing a private diary at all.
Fauci invoked his Fifth Amendment right more than 100 times before Paul's Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on July 29, according to NPR. Paul has said the panel will weigh a contempt referral.
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