Fauci Slams Critics Attacking Him for Not Wearing Mask at Nationals Game: ‘Just Mischievous’ for People to Make This an Issue

Dr. Anthony Fauci slammed critics attacking him for not wearing a mask after he threw out the first pitch at Nationals Park Thursday night, calling the comments “mischievous.”

The photo, captured by the Associated Press and Washington Post, shows Fauci sandwiched between two people in the stadium with a Nationals mask around his chin. The two people next to him are both wearing masks. Fauci appeared on Fox News, where John Roberts asked about the viral photo.

“Just want to bring up one thing quickly because it’s become a meme on the internet,” Roberts asked. “There’s a photo of you in the stands with two people, you are not wearing a mask and not social distancing, but we should point out that one of those people is your wife. What about the other person?”

“The other person is a very close friend of mine,” Fauci responded. “John, I think this is sort of mischievous with this thing going around. I had my mask around my chin, I had taken it down. I was totally dehydrated and I was drinking water trying to rehydrate myself. And by the way, I was negative Covid literally the day before.”

“So I guess if people want to make a thing of that, I wear a mask all the time when I outside,” Fauci continued. “To pull it down, to take some sips of water, and put it back up again, I guess if people want to make something about that, they can. But to me, I think that’s just mischievous.”

Watch above, via Fox News.