- Dr. Anthony Fauci said that the Republican backlash against him is "all nonsense."
- Fauci has faced a wave of criticism over his emails, which were recently made public.
- In an interview on "The Rachel Maddow Show," he called the criticism an "anti-science approach."
- Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top epidemiologist, called the GOP criticism against him "nonsense" in an interview on MSNBC's "The Rachel Maddow Show" on Friday after a tranche of his emails were made public earlier this week.
Fauci, the director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and White House chief medical advisor, has faced backlash from Republicans, including former President Donald Trump throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
The criticism continued this week after his emails were obtained by various publications, including The Washington Post. Some of those emails raised further questions about the origins of the coronavirus, including one exchange with an infectious disease expert who told Fauci, "Some of the features (potentially) look engineered," according to NBC News.
Several GOP lawmakers released angry statements about the email revelations. Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri even called on Fauci to resign.
"Anthony Fauci's recently released emails and investigative reporting about #COVID19 origins are shocking," Hawley tweeted. "The time has come for Fauci to resign and for a full congressional investigation into the origins of #COVID19 – and into any and all efforts to prevent a full accounting"
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green demanded the Biden administration investigate Fauci and release the results by July 31, a date which does not exist.
On the "The Rachel Maddow Show," Fauci described the pushback against him as an "'anti-science approach."
"I mean, it is what it is. I'm a public figure, I'm going to take the arrows and the slings. But they're just, they're fabricated, and that's just what it is." Fauci said in the interview. "My job was to make a vaccine and use my institute and these talented scientists that we have there and that we fund in the various universities to get a vaccine that was highly safe and highly effective. And we've succeeded. "
"All the other stuff is just a terrible, not happy type of a distraction. But it's all nonsense," Fauci added.
Last month, President Joe Biden ordered the US intelligence community to look into the origins of the virus and check back in with him in 90 days. The president also said he's "very confident" in Fauci, despite the ire of right-wing politicians.