Bravo’s usually freewheeling Watch What Happens Live took a serious turn Wednesday night when Andy Cohen used his “Mazel of the Day” to defend Dr. Anthony Fauci and condemn Republican senators over their treatment of him during a contentious hearing earlier in the day.
Fauci appeared under subpoena before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, chaired by longtime antagonist Sen. Rand Paul. Acting on his attorney’s advice, the former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director invoked his Fifth Amendment rights more than 100 times as Republican senators accused him of dishonesty over the origins of COVID-19 and his management of the pandemic. Paul said the committee would vote next week on whether to hold Fauci in contempt.
“It is time for my Mazel of the Day,” Cohen began. “It goes to Dr. Anthony Fauci, who spent over three hours today being grilled, berated, and sworn at by Senate Republicans over the imaginary crimes they want you to believe he committed during his management of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Cohen then turned to Fauci’s record as a public servant—and particularly his work during the AIDS epidemic.
“Meanwhile, this is the same Dr. Fauci who was a devoted public servant for 54 years and led the federal response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic as the main architect of PEPFAR,” Cohen said. “His courageous work is responsible for saving over 26 million lives around the world.”
Fauci spent 54 years at the National Institutes of Health, including 38 years leading NIAID. The NIH describes him as one of the principal architects of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the global HIV/AIDS program credited by the State Department with saving 26 million lives.
“Even one of his fiercest critics, Larry Kramer, called him the only true and great hero when it came to responding to the cruel epidemic, while many others in our government turned their backs on our community,” Cohen continued.
Though personally outspoken, Cohen rarely turns Watch What Happens Live over to direct political commentary. The Bravo late-night show remains firmly rooted in celebrity interviews, reality television and pop-culture gossip, with its host generally reserving political statements for major national events or issues that intersect with his life as a gay man and father.
Wednesday’s commentary managed to be both—a defense of science and a personal tribute to a public health official whose AIDS work had a profound effect on Cohen’s community.
“Our country is facing serious problems,” Cohen said. “We’re in a war with no end in sight. Prices are skyrocketing. We can’t even eat lettuce, for God’s sake. And to declare a war on science at a time like this is deeply unserious and dangerous.”
He closed with a line aimed directly at Fauci’s congressional critics: “Maybe our politicians are just jealous because doctors and scientists do the one thing they can’t ever seem to do: fix something. Thank you, Dr. Fauci.”
Watch Cohen’s full remarks at the top of this post.
Good for him. The Republican Senators slandering Dr. Fauci yesterday should be ashamed of themselves. But they have no shame.