Rand paul slams fauci for insisting people stay in 'biden's basement'

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) continued his pubic dispute with Dr. Anthony Fauci on Tuesday, claiming that Fauci wants Americans to remain in President Joe Biden's "basement" even if

they have been vaccinated against COVID-19. Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert and director the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) for

decades, has recently urged the public to maintain preventative measures as the COVID-19 pandemic continues regardless of their vaccination status. Paul, who was a practicing ophthalmologist

before entering the Senate, disputed the notion that any such caution is warranted and claimed that Fauci's views were "against the science" during an interview with Fox

News' Neil Cavuto on Tuesday. "Dr. Fauci comes out with statements, 'Oh, even though you've been vaccinated you still need to stay in Joe Biden's basement. You

can't go to a restaurant, you can't go out," Paul said. "That's kind of ridiculous. It's against the science and it's actually discouraging people. People

want a reward. Rewards work and your reward if you get the vaccine is you can live your life again, you're not going to get it or transmit it to people." "The likelihood is

very, very small," he added. "And the risk is such that you could probably go back to living a normal life. Now, if he says the risk is going to go to zero, no risk is zero. So, he

needs to quit dictating to the entire world how to live and let us make our own decisions." Paul said that he would like Fauci to "just obey the science that's coming from

his own institute," citing a NIAID study from late last month. The study found that those who recover from COVID-19 naturally, as well as those who have been vaccinated, likely do have

some level of protection against emerging variants of the virus due to infection-fighting T-Cells. Fauci said that it is "still not okay" for Americans to dine out indoors even if

they have been fully vaccinated during a Sunday appearance on MSNBC's _The Mehdi Hasan Show. _Fauci's remarks prompted outraged calls for him to be fired by conservatives opposed

to public health restrictions. "It's still not okay for the simple reason that the level of infection, the dynamics of infection in the community, are still really disturbingly

high," Fauci explained. "If you are vaccinated, please remember that you still have to be careful and not get involved in crowded situations, particularly indoors where people are

not wearing masks." "Until we show definitively that a person who is vaccinated does not get this subclinical infection and can spread to others, you should also continue to wear a

mask for the time being," he added. There are still an average of over 60,000 new COVID-19 cases recorded in the U.S. each day, with more than 31.2 million total cases as of Tuesday,

according to Johns Hopkins University. During a Senate hearing last month, Paul accused Fauci of engaging in "theater" for encouraging others to wear masks and wearing two masks

himself despite being vaccinated. Fauci countered that he believed Paul was being theatrical while arguing that studies had not conclusively shown that vaccinated people could not still

spread the virus. _Newsweek_ reached out to NIAID for comment.