Dr. Anthony Fauci, the architect of America's COVID response, who lectured the rest of us about "the science" for years, appeared before Congress on Wednesday and invoked his Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate himself over 100 times. He refused to answer questions about what day of the week it was. He wouldn't even say what color his tie was.
Naturally, President Donald Trump was asked about it, and his response did not disappoint. When a reporter asked whether the Department of Justice should reopen the autopen investigation as it relates to Fauci, Trump zeroed in on the one question that matters.
"Well, the only thing you can really think about is the auto pen," Trump said. "Because the most powerful thing the president has, they say, is the power of pardon. So, he was pardoned by Biden, and I respect that. I know how powerful it is. It's a very powerful, they say. It's literally the most powerful thing a president has."
Then came the twist of the knife. Trump said the only pardon he was certain Joe Biden personally signed was the one for Hunter Biden, and he suggested Biden likely never signed Fauci's pardon himself, which raises real doubts about whether it meets legal requirements. Whoever operated the autopen, Trump argued, would need proof, letters, and full knowledge of what was being authorized, and he suggested that person had no idea what the pardon covered.
.@POTUS: "The most powerful thing a president has they say is the power of pardon. [Fauci] was pardoned by Biden... the only thing I know that he signed was Hunter Biden's pardon. He probably didn't sign this one." pic.twitter.com/MpsgJ2OnfS
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) July 29, 2026
When a reporter asked Trump whether Fauci should face repercussions, the president reminded everyone that he knows Fauci better than just about anyone.
"Well, I watched the whole thing today, but more importantly, I was a part of the whole Fauci — I inherited Fauci. He was here from the 1980s, so I had him for a period of time, and I disagreed with him on a lot. I would have had to close down the whole country if I listened to him," Trump said. "I went the federalist way, which is basically to let the governors decide. And generally speaking, the Republican governors did very well; the Democrat governors did not do very well. But Fauci wanted to have nobody wearing masks, if you remember, and then everybody had to wear five masks, as many masks as you could get."
ICYMI: Josh Hawley Exposed Anthony Fauci's Fifth Amendment Charade Then Went for the Takedown
Trump kept going, and it got better. "Operation Warp Speed was talked about as being one of the great success stories anywhere in the world, actually, and we did a good job. But many more people died under Biden than died in the Trump administration from COVID. COVID was a disaster, but Fauci did not help."
President Trump on Dr. Anthony Fauci and Covid-19: "Fauci wanted to have nobody wearing masks, if you remember, and then everybody had to wear five masks, as many masks as you could get... I mean, he made a lot of mistakes." pic.twitter.com/jlVEJjCSnV
— CSPAN (@cspan) July 29, 2026
But here's the problem for Fauci, and it's a big one.
The Fifth Amendment protects you from incriminating yourself in testimony. Fauci was pardoned. A pardoned man has no self-incrimination to fear on anything the pardon covers, which means he has no Fifth Amendment right to hide behind.
"As you very well know, as the Supreme Court has been clear for a century and more, Brown v. Walker, 1896. When he has been pardoned, he may not stand upon his privilege," Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) told Fauci during the hearing.
So the walls are closing in on Fauci from every direction. The Senate is expected to vote on contempt charges next week, the legitimacy of his autopen pardon is in serious doubt, and the president of the United States just calmly explained on camera why none of it ought to protect him. Fauci spent years telling Americans to trust him. This week, he wouldn't even trust himself to answer a question about his tie. Trump's response was epic, and Fauci's reckoning may just be getting started.
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