It's hard to blame late-night hosts for giving Dr. Anthony Fauci the benefit of the doubt back in 2020.
We all did. And boy, was that a mistake.
Time has told us how wrong Dr. Fauci was on so many levels. That, plus his incessant flip-flopping and eagerness to shutter society without considering the costs:
- Personal
- Financial
- Political
Or, perhaps he did on the latter front. Either way, we slowly learned he wasn't a trustworthy figure. And, as Miss. Sen. Josh Hawley said mere days ago, he helped crush trust in science.
You have done more to harm science than anybody in my lifetime.
As only someone who dubbed himself "The Science" could achieve.
Now, late-night hosts have a second chance to mock Dr. Fauci. And, of course, they failed once again to Speak Truth to Power. Instead, they dodged and weaved, evoking President Donald Trump and spreading more misinformation.
That's after taking a knee immediately after the hearings in question.
Hearings? What hearings? Wait ... you think a government official refusing to share what color his tie is might be worth a yuk or two?
Hawley: "Let's try something. What day of the week is it today?"
— TheBlaze (@theblaze) July 29, 2026
Fauci: "I decline to answer based upon my rights under the Fifth Amendment."
Hawley: "What color tie are you wearing?"
Fauci: "I decline to answer based upon my rights under the Fifth Amendment." pic.twitter.com/FIqHsVs0CT
Perhaps they needed a whole 24 hours to get the pro-Fauci spin just right. Given the doctor's list of inconsistencies, that's understandable.
Thursday, they got their collective bearings (and marching orders?).
Let's start with "Late Night with Seth Meyers." The host brought up Dr. Fauci's recent "I Plead the Fifth" marathon, but he did so to smite Trump. Of course he did.
During the Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing yesterday with Dr. Anthony Fauci, Republican Senator Rick Scott criticized Fauci for destroying the federal government's credibility on public health. What? Your boss literally told us to drink bleach, which after ten years of him, I’m starting to warm up to the idea.
Not funny. Not true. That's a perfect way to sum up the modern late-night scene.
"The Daily Show" spent more time on the Capitol Hill hearings, but once again missed the target in the grand Bob Eucker tradition.
"Juuuuuuust a bit outside. He tried the corner and missed."
Host Jordan Klepper blamed Trump and leadership in toto (no names, natch!) for mishandling the pandemic. He also dropped this Kamala Harris-style attempt to blame the wrong people:
Did our leaders make mistakes? Of course they did! Should we try to find out what we did wrong? Of course. But that was not what was happening with Republicans this week. They were doing the only thing we do anymore: Shove a complex issue through a performative partisan filter.
Perhaps if Dr. Fauci answered a single question we might have learned more about what we did wrong.
Meanwhile, over at Fox News' "Gutfeld!" one panelist got to the heart of the matter - Kat Timpf.
This guy is such a liar. He ruined people's lives. He's being exposed for it. And yet he seems so unbothered by all of it... if the stress is bothering him, I can't see it.
