A crowd of attendees at CPAC jeered and shouted “lock him up” when an image of former NIAID chief Dr Anthony Fauci appeared on screen during the event.
The moment occurred when Sens Ted Cruz and JD Vance joined the event for a live taping of The Verdict, Mr Cruz’s podcast.
Their discussion focused on the origins of Covid and the news coverage of the theory which posits that the virus was accidentally released from a Wuhan virology lab.
As coverage of the theory from liberal-leaning news outlets appeared onscreen to scattered boos, the audience erupted into shouts and boos when the former White House expert on infectious disease joined the montage.
The two senators pivoted from their attacks aimed at Mr Garland to later turn their fire against Attorney General Merrick Garland, who despite their best efforts did not elicit the same hatred evoked by Dr Fauci’s image.
But the two did not leave Dr Fauci and his supposed dishonesty on the lab-leak issue (which had not been conclusively accepted by any governmental agency as a credible explanation with high confidence) alone.
The senators called for hearings on the origin of Covid and for Dr Fauci to be prosecuted for allegedly lying under oath to Congress, which drew cheers from their audience. In all, the two appeared to be throwing out whatever red meat their audience found most appealing.
Though the two talked a big game, its highly unlikely they will get the chance to carry out any of their fantasies about seeing Dr Fauci prosecuted, given that they saw their party sink further into the minority in the Senate last fall.
Mr Vance was one of the only bright spots for the GOP in the Senate races of 2022, and did not hesitate to take shots at the GOP establishment for insufficiently having his back in his race.
Mr Cruz then joined him, savaging national Republicans: “They basically abandoned the Senate candidate in Arizona. They abandoned the Senate candidate in New Hampshire.”
