Following an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show on Aug. 3, 2026, Aaron Rodgers, quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers, received attention for calling Dr. Anthony Fauci an “absolute coward” and “criminal.” Rodgers’ comments were in response to Fauci invoking his Fifth Amendment rights at a congressional hearing on pandemic-era policies and the origins of COVID-19.
Fauci exercised his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination more than 100 times, rather than answer questions about his role in the government’s pandemic response. The invocation came amid years of congressional investigations and hearings scrutinizing his handling of the pandemic.
