Rep. Madison Cawthorn typifies the mind of the modern Republican: corrupted and diseased with conspiracy theories and lies, and melded with a sociopathic conscience.
During the outbreak of COVID under Trump, Dr. Fauci became a symbol of hope to the nation as he led the COVID task force.
But as soon as his approval ratings skyrocketed past Trump, he was kicked to the curb.
As the months wore on, Fox News hosts began blaming him for all the problems caused by the pandemic just to shift the focus away from that incompetent fool that occupied the White House in 2020.
Fast forward to October 26, 2021, and Madison Cawthorn actually said these words on the House floor.
Cawthorn, "Today I am calling for the creation of a formal commission to investigate the true origin of Covid-19, the role Fauci played in its creation, the false statements he made to members of Congress under oath, and why the hell Americans are funding the torture of puppies in Africa. Americans deserve the truth, and this demon doctor must never be allowed to escape justice."
Say, what?
I will give you one guess where the erroneous story about "tortured puppies" come from. It's a rag based in New York owned by the Murdochs.
Any conspiracy theory The NY Post writes about immediately finds its way onto Fox News and then is transmitted to other wingnut outlets and then to Republican politicians like Congressman Cawthorn.
Dana Milbank easily debunks these allegations.
It turns out that this Tunisian study was erroneously attributed to NIAID. NIAID did, however, fund different research in Tunisia — and the beagles weren’t puppies, they weren’t euthanized, they weren’t “de-barked,” and they weren’t “trapped” so “flies could eat them alive.” The dogs were given an experimental vaccine and allowed to roam. There was a very good reason for this: Dogs are the main reservoir host (and flies the main vector) of the disease that was being studied, which affects half a million people a year, particularly children, and has a 6 percent mortality rate in Tunisia.
Truth and reality have no place in the right-wing fever swamps. They can't get votes from truth so they lie.
