Anthony Fauci, top adviser on COVID-19 under both Presidents Donald Trump and Joe Biden, was in the hot seat this week, facing intense criticism from congressional Republicans as well as unending praise from congressional Democrats. Monday's hearing, organized by the House Oversight Committee's Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, functioned as a quintessential example of the extreme polarization that characterizes modern U.S. political discourse; for half the country, Fauci is a villain—for the other half, he is worthy of sainthood.
Occupying the former camp, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R–Ga.) refused to call him by his medical title—instead referring to him as "Mr. Fauci"—and repeatedly said that he should be sent to prison. On the other side, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D–Md.) apologized to Fauci on behalf of his colleagues, chided the right for embracing "the big medical lie" that Fauci was somehow responsible for causing the pandemic, and then pointlessly turned the conversation toward Trump's recent felony conviction.
