A Republican senator faced a public shaming Wednesday after he dropped an expletive on Dr. Anthony Fauci.
Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) became enraged as the infectious disease expert repeatedly pleaded the Fifth Amendment in the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee chaired by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), who has long accused Fauci of a coronavirus cover-up.
"Who the f--- do you think you were for doing that?” Moreno told Fauci. "There is no defense of what you did. You may have had a 50-plus year legacy of public service, but it ends in total and complete disgrace.”
Moreno's words quickly spurred an uproar online as critics recalled the Ohio senator's silence on another matter.
Social media critics wondered why the Ohio Republican had not expressed such public outrage when his daughter Emily Moreno accused her ex-husband Rep. Max Miller (R-OH) of abusing her and their 2-year-old daughter.
Miller denies the claims.
A New York Times report revealed disturbing court records documenting their daughter's words to her mother: “Daddy kill you.”
This prompted MS NOW's Chris Hayes to note on X, "Weird he can’t bring this kind of energy towards his colleague who is accused of beating up his daughter."
"Bernie is angrier at Fauci than he is at the member of Congress that allegedly beat up his daughter," observed Rolling Stone's Nikki McCann Ramírez.
"Moreno is the tough guy who will not say a word about the Republican congressman allegedly beating the s--- out of and pulling a gun on Moreno's own daughter," fumed pundit Julie Roginsky.
"Interesting that he has this smoke for Fauci but not for the elected member of Congress who abused his daughter and grandchild," added author Brandon Wolf.
"This is *somewhat* unprecedented," pointed out popular X user Peter Twinklage. "In 2020, Dem Senator Tom Carper dropped several cursewords on a hot-mic during a virtual committee hearing. Prior to that, the late Lindsey Graham used the expletive while quoting text messages from Peter Strzok in 2019. But, yeah, this is bonkers!"
"This is a repulsive castigation of a man who has devoted everything to science and the American people," opined the massively followed Intellectualist account. "He is not a perfect man; no one is. But to see senators throwing stones at Dr. Anthony Fauci, a public servant who has served this country for decades through the HIV/AIDS crisis, Ebola, and COVID-19, is a disgrace."
