‘More subterfuge!’ Anthony Fauci is branded a ‘fraud’ and a ‘liar’ after admitting there IS a lack of evidence showing mask mandates stopped the COVID pandemic

Dr. Anthony Fauci has been branded a ‘fraud’ and ‘liar’ after admitting there is now a lack of evidence to suggest mask wearing helped stop the spread of COVID.

The immunologist, who retired in December, was roundly criticized this weekend after saying “the data is less strong now.”

Some online accused him of “more subterfuge” after he continued to call on Americans to cover up as things begin to pick up again.

While others took a stronger stance and said he was “smoked” as more statistics and research are done on mask wearing during the pandemic.

“When you talk about the effect on the epidemic or the pandemic as a whole, the data is less strong,” Fauci admitted to CNN’s Michael Smerconish.

“But there are other studies that show on an individual level, for individuals, that they may be protective,” he said.

The former head of health care was responding to questions about a study from Tom Jefferson, a senior associate tutor at the University of Oxford, whose research concluded ‘there’s just no evidence that they – masks – make any difference. Point.’

Social media users exploded at the findings and Fauci’s response, calling him “bullsh*t.”

Fauci admits that masks don’t work for the general public, but still absurdly argues that masks work on an individual basis. More subterfuge,” Senator Rand Paul wrote.

Conservative political commentator Buck Sexton went further, labeling Fauci a “fraudster and a liar.”

“Fauci faces the most definitive data analysis possible: masks make NO difference against Covid. Not a little, not a little. Zero. And he just mutters numerical illiteracy about “individual protection.” He is a cheater and a liar.’

Conservative political commentator Liz Wheeler was also direct in her criticism of the doctor and his poor interview performance.

“Wow Fauci is being smoked on masks and he has no comeback,” she wrote.

Fauci now says mask mandates have not stopped the spread. Maybe we didn’t know that in 2020, but we knew for sure in 2022, when toddlers were still forcibly masked. These kids deserve an apology,” wrote school social worker Justin Spiro.

Some have been more forgiving of the former top doctor’s flack on the matter.

His recommendations are his recommendations. Science and medicine change. No, Dr. Fauci didn’t get everything right, but neither did others,” Ed Krassenstein wrote online.

Fauci’s admission is a far cry from his firmness early in the pandemic that mask mandates would curb the spike in cases.

The former head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, 82, has been branded the country’s Covid czar as he strongly recommended wearing face coverings and social distancing in public.

As early as April 2020, he told anxious Americans, “If everyone does that, we all protect each other. Because the data is, it’s more efficient to prevent it from being sent to others than it is to prevent it from being sent to yourself.”

People were required to wear masks in schools, public transport, restaurants and workplaces.

But after a series of leaked emails and interviews since the peak of the pandemic, Fauci has been criticized for turning his beliefs around, admitting there is a lack of evidence to suggest they have been working to stop the spread of the virus.

Fauci’s admission that the data is “less strong” at the population level comes as New Yorkers are being told to consider masking this Labor Day over concerns over rising Covid cases and two new variants.

A spokesperson for NYC’s health department told DailyMail.com that wearing a mask may be a “good idea” in busy indoor areas when people are expected to congregate in large groups during the holidays.

But they also said that “nothing has changed in the guidance” and that the city currently has no plans to make face masks mandatory.

New York City is currently recording a rise in Covid cases and hospitalizations caused by the virus.

The latest data shows the city’s infection rate as of August 29 is about 18 cases per 100,000 people — though this is likely an underestimate because so few people are now testing themselves for the virus.

The number of hospitalizations is also rising: on August 31, 502 patients with Covid were admitted to the city’s hospitals.

That is an increase of five percent compared to the previous week. However, it is still well below this year’s peak of nearly 2,000 patients in the hospital.

Last summer, Fauci said in an interview with CBS that he didn’t regret his advice on mask mandates during the pandemic.

He said, ‘I don’t regret what I said then, because in the context of the time when I said it, it was correct.

“In our task force meetings, we were told that we have a serious problem with the lack of personal protective equipment and masks for the health care workers who put themselves at risk every day to care for sick people.”

In December 2021, Fauci told the public that he could not see the end of wearing masks on airplanes: “Even though you have a good filtration system, I still believe masks are wise and we should do it.”

But a year later, in December 2022, Dr Fauci acknowledged that there is a certain ‘fatigue’ about the mandates related to COVID-19, even as the number of cases starts to rise during the winter months.

Speak with Fox 5Fauci said local health authorities should be the ones to call about COVID restrictions, but he is aware that people “don’t like being told what to do.”

“You would want people to use their common sense to protect themselves and their families,” he told Good Day New York. But ‘there’s a weariness about being mandated. People don’t like to be told what to do.’

However, he added that when there is an increase in infections, “which is followed by an increase in hospitalizations, you want to make sure you do something to mitigate that.”