Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) is now looking to fundraise off the fact that the U.S.’s top infectious disease expert dubbed him a “moron” last week. The remark was uttered into a hot mic, after the GOP senator falsely and conspiratorially insisted that the White House chief medical adviser hadn’t already made his financial disclosures public (he had).
Now, a week later, Marshall’s fundraising website features a shirt with an image of Fauci with the text “MORON” below.
The mumbled insult was seemingly a big moment for Marshall. The fundraising tactic comes days after he announced his plans to introduce a bill named the “FAUCI Act” — shorthand, conveniently, for the “Financial Accountability for Uniquely Compensated Individuals Act” — in another attempt to push conspiracy theories about Fauci.
Marshall is not alone in fundraising off of animosity toward Fauci. The White House chief medical adviser called out his ongoing nemesis, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), last week for his efforts to fundraise off of his ongoing attacks against him.
Fauci noted that attacks like Paul’s have prompted an uptick in threats, including death threats, against him and his family.
“You go to Rand Paul’s website, and you see ‘fire Dr. Fauci’ with a little box that says ‘contribute here!’” Fauci said during a Senate hearing last week, holding up examples of Paul’s campaign materials. “You can do $5, $10, $20, $100.”
“So you are making a catastrophic epidemic for your political gain,” he told the senator. “So I ask myself why would the senator want to do this?”
