White House Chief Medical Advisor Dr Anthony Fauci delivered his final message before retiring at a press conference at the White House on Tuesday.
When asked how he would like to be remembered, the nation’s top infectious diseases expert said he would leave it to others to judge his achievements.
“What I would like people to remember about what I’ve done is that every day for all of those years, I’ve given it everything that I have and I’ve never left anything on the field. So if they want to remember me, whether they judge rightly or wrongly, what I’ve done, I gave it all I got. For many decades,” Fauci told journalists.
Later, Fauci commented on the misinformation and conspiracy theories which were spread throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Well, you remember if you were around at this podium, I contradicted those which set off a whole series of things in my life,” he said. “The people who have the correct information, who take science seriously, who doesn’t have a strange way out theories about things, but who base what they say on evidence and data need to speak up more.”
Dr Fauci will leave the federal government in December but said he would happily testify before congress to defend his record during his time as Chief Medical Advisor.
“If there are oversight hearings I absolutely will cooperate fully and testify before congress. You may not know, but I have testified before congress a few hundred times over the last 40 years or so. So, I have no trouble testifying, we can defend and explain everything that we’ve said. So, I have nothing to hide,” he said.
