A day after Fox News national security correspondent Jennifer Griffin corrected Sean Hannity on the topic of Ukrainian biological research facilities, another opinion host tried to tie Dr. Anthony Fauci to them without offering a single relevant fact to support her bizarre line of speculation.
On Thursday’s broadcast of the roundtable show The Five, co-host Jeanine Pirro wondered if Fauci’s infrequent media appearances over the past few weeks might relate to Ukrainian biolabs being in the news.
Fauci, the target of many right-wing conspiracy theories over the last two years, has not been as much of a presence on cable television lately, presumably due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the easing of COVID restrictions in the U.S.
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“What I think is interesting about these biolabs… we deny, we deny, we deny. ‘It’s preposterous. Don’t waste any ink on it,’ ” Pirro said. “And yet, isn’t it interesting that we haven’t heard or seen Fauci in weeks?” she said, eliciting laughs from a few of her co-hosts.
Russia has accused the U.S. of helping to develop biological weapons at labs in Ukraine—an evidence-free assertion that has nonetheless gained traction in some conserVative media outlets and Republican circles — likely what Pirro was referencing when she said she has heard people say not to “waste any ink on it.”
U.S. officials and independent experts have called this Russian claim a textbook example of disinformation from the Kremlin, and a possible pretext to Russia using chemical weapons in Ukraine as it’s done in Syria.
“Why did he disappear?” Pirro asked, adding “I’d love to ask him if he knows anything about that.”
“Give Fauci a rest, for goodness sake,” Geraldo Rivera chimed in.
“No, I don’t want to,” Pirro responded. “Now it’s time for him to face some questions.”
A few hours later, Tucker Carlson appeared to ramp up his attacks against Griffin, who’s been reporting for Fox News for nearly 25 years, accusing journalists of repeating lies from the Pentagon without “doing any reporting whatsoever.”
