The contentious Listening to earlier than the Senate Homeland Safety and Governmental Affairs compelled the Elitist Media Night Information to dedicate one thing greater than a quick to the continuing swirl of scandal surrounding the previous head of the Nationwide Institute of Allergy and Infectious Ailments, Dr. Anthony Fauci. And in so doing, they reverted to an all-too-familiar playbook: Republicans Pounce.
After a David Muir-esque introduction, fill-in anchor Whit Johnson threw to Jay O’Brien. O’Brien started his report by heaping reward on Fauci and setting him up as a secular saint. O’Brien then amplified Fauci’s narrative line on the hearings (“unhinged obsession”), and gave credence to the moist market Covid origin concept:
WATCH: @ABCWorldNews framed their protection of Anthony Fauci’s Senate listening to with syrupy reward, by repeating his speaking factors (“unhinged obsession”), and by giving credibility to the debunked moist market Covid origin concept:
JAY O’BRIEN: Physician Anthony Fauci, the person hundreds of thousands… pic.twitter.com/MqLMt8qwCL
— Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) July 30, 2026
JAY O’BRIEN: Physician Anthony Fauci, the person hundreds of thousands of Individuals turned to for solutions through the Covid pandemic…
RAND PAUL: The entire fact and nothing however the fact. So allow you to God.
O’BRIEN: …right this moment refusing to reply a single query from the senate’s homeland safety committee, accusing the Republican chairman, Senator Rand Paul, of getting an unhinged obsession with him.
ANTHONY FAUCI: The only real purpose he’s calling me earlier than this committee is to get me to say one thing, something that might vindicate his repeated public pledges that I find yourself, in his phrases, quote, “behind bars.”
O’BRIEN: In three hours. Fauci invoking the Fifth Modification greater than 100 occasions.
FAUCI: On the recommendation of counsel, I respectfully decline to reply.
O’BRIEN: Paul at one level threatening to kick Fauci’s lawyer out of the chamber.
PAUL: I stated, sit quietly. You aren’t acknowledged. One other phrase, and also you’re gone.
O’BRIEN: A few minute later…PAUL: Safety, please take away him from the room.
O’BRIEN: The 85-year-old Fauci, who served in authorities for 54 years and has testified in additional than 200 hearings, sitting stone-faced as Republicans needled him.
JOSH HAWLEY: Nothing says honesty like taking the Fifth, huh Doc? Let’s attempt one thing. What day of the week is it right this moment?
FAUCI: On the recommendation of counsel, I respectfully decline to reply primarily based upon my rights beneath the Fifth Modification to the Structure.
HAWLEY: Nicely, what colour tie are you sporting?
FAUCI: On the recommendation of counsel, I respectfully decline to reply…
O’BRIEN: Paul pushing Fauci on whether or not he coated up the origins of Covid. Whereas most scientists consider the virus seemingly jumped from an animal to people, some U.S. Intelligence companies conclude it extra seemingly leaked from a lab in Wuhan, China.
The contentious listening to compelled protection of the Fauci Diaries, nevertheless it was scant. 29 seconds centering on movie star interactions, and on framing it as a “non-public diary” versus a doc discovered on a authorities server- which is how Well being Secretary RFK, Jr. handed it over within the first place, however it’s by no means actually defined to viewers.
ABC closes out with Democrat defenses, and an emphasis on President Biden’s autopen pardon of Fauci.
CBS considerably adopted the identical template:
WATCH: @CBSEveningNews adopted the “Republicans Pounce’ template with its report on the Fauci listening to: Bernie and Hawley, “Unhinged obsession”, Dems defend, and the contempt vote subsequent week.
MATT GUTMAN: Now to that offended Senate listening to with Dr. Anthony Fauci right this moment, the GOP… pic.twitter.com/0zHCSUmXa1
— Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) July 30, 2026
CBS EVENING NEWS
7/29/26
6:37:PM
MATT GUTMAN: Now to that offended Senate listening to with Dr. Anthony Fauci right this moment, the GOP confronting him over diary entries and his dealing with of the federal government response to the Covid pandemic. Fauci refusing to reply any questions, he now faces threats of contempt. CBS Information Congressional Correspondent Nikole Killion experiences.
NIKOLE KILLION: In query…Who the [bleep] Do you suppose you had been for doing that?
KILLION: …after query…
JOSH HAWLEY: What day of the week is it right this moment?
KILLION: Dr. Anthony Fauci gave the identical reply.
ANTHONY FAUCI: On the recommendation of counsel, I respectfully decline to reply. (VIDEO SWIPE) I respectfully decline to reply. (VIDEO SWIPE) I respectfully decline to reply primarily based upon my rights beneath the Fifth Modification to the Structure.
KILLION: The previous Covid advisor invoked the Fifth greater than 100 occasions after being subpoenaed by Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, who he has clashed with for years, calling it “an unhinged obsession.”
FAUCI: …that the only real purpose he’s calling me earlier than this committee is to get me to say one thing, something that might vindicate his repeated public pledges that I find yourself, in his phrases, quote, “behind bars.”
KILLION: Paul kicked one among Fauci’s attorneys out of the listening to.
PAUL: Safety, please take away him from the room.
KILLION: He countered that the panel was merely searching for solutions to the origins of Covid and whether or not it originated naturally or was leaked by a lab in Wuhan, China. Paul lately launched a trove of Fauci’s diary entries that he claims exhibits the 85-year-old immunologist had contradicting views.
PAUL: Whilst you concluded publicly that covid occurred naturally, your non-public document tells a unique story.
KILLION: Democrats accused the GOP Of conducting a biased investigation.
RICHARD BLUMENTHAL: This years-long public campaign towards Dr. Fauci makes one factor clear: This isn’t a critical effort to hunt info from Dr. Fauci.
KILLION: Chairman Paul plans a committee vote subsequent week to carry Dr. Fauci in contempt of congress for refusing to reply questions. Fauci was pardoned by Former President Biden, however it will seemingly solely cowl him for any actions earlier than it was issued, Matt.
GUTMAN: Nikole, I’m positive you’ll be there as effectively. Thanks.
CBS’s report centered extra on the listening to and revealed not one of the contents of the Fauci Diaries. There have been a few of those self same factors. Harsh Republican questioning, “unhinged obsession”, and the Covid origin concept being muddied (“searching for fact”). The report additionally closed out with mentions of Biden’s pardon and the upcoming contempt vote. A lot for CBS lurching to the proper, because the Media Corridor Displays typically assert.
Then again: CBS did instantly comply with that merchandise with an interview with Nationwide Institutes of Well being Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya- an authentic signer of the 2020 Nice Barrington Declaration, which opposed draconian lockdowns.
Lastly, there may be NBC Nightly Information, who additionally adopted the identical template:
WATCH: @NBCNightlyNews follows the identical “Republicans Pounce” template with the Fauci listening to BUT delves additional into the Fauci Information.
TOM LLAMAS: Again at dwelling in Washington, Dr. Anthony Fauci was grilled by lawmakers over his actions through the pandemic, however Fauci didn’t reply… pic.twitter.com/kn4UkajzTO
— Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) July 30, 2026
NBC NIGHTLY NEWS
7/29/26
6:37 PM
TOM LLAMAS: Again at dwelling in Washington, Dr. Anthony Fauci was grilled by lawmakers over his actions through the pandemic, however Fauci didn’t reply questions, as an alternative taking the Fifth. Right here’s Monica Alba.
ANTHONY FAUCI: On the recommendation of counsel I respectfully…
MONICA ALBA: Dr. Anthony Fauci right this moment invoking his Fifth Modification proper greater than 100 occasions…
FAUCI: I respectfully decline to reply…
ALBA: Declining to reply lawmaker questions on his dealing with of the pandemic, citing what he referred to as GOP Senator Rand Paul’s “unhinged obsession” with prosecuting him.
FAUCI: The only real purpose he is calling me earlier than this committee is to get me to say one thing, something, that might vindicate his repeated public pledges that I find yourself, in his phrases quote, “behind bars”, unquote.
ALBA: Fauci’s legal professional was eliminated after he interrupted the listening to to talk. Democrats defending Fauci.
GARY PETERS: I concern the intent of this listening to is just meant to additional a purely partisan agenda.
ALBA: All of it after Paul revealed greater than 1,100 pages of Fauci’s private diary, together with the place Fauci gushed about reward he obtained from celebrities like Bono, Julia Roberts, and Barbra Streisand, writing: “it isn’t hyperbole to say that right this moment I’m probably the most well-known and talked about particular person within the nation.”
JOSH HAWLEY: You needed to be on TV, you needed to be the Solar God of Science. You could possibly sit for In Fashion journal however you may’t reply questions for the American folks.
ALBA: In a single entry, Fauci additionally wrote a few telephone name the place he stated he efficiently satisfied New York Metropolis’s mayor to shut colleges. Republican senators grilling him over these Covid lockdown measures.
BERNIE MORENO: Who the [ bleep ] Do you suppose you might be doing that? (VIDEO SWIPE) It’s a complete shame what you probably did to this nation.
ALBA: Former President Biden pardoned Fauci for any potential offenses throughout an 11-year interval earlier than 2025, however it will not cowl his statements right this moment.
And Senator Paul’s committee plans to vote subsequent week on holding Dr. Fauci in contempt of Congress, however it will in the end be as much as the DoJ to prosecute him. Tom.
LLAMAS: Monica, thanks.
NBC did Republicans Pounce as effectively, however this was in all probability the crispest report of the three. Correspondent Monica Alba checked off the identical bins because the others, however she did embrace considerably extra of the Fauci Diaries than ABC or CBS. In a way, the diaries had been buried inside protection of the listening to, after they actually ought to have been reported on their very own.
Moreover, protection of the hearings was deliberately shallow in that there was no publicity of the substance of the questions requested of Fauci. Viewers obtained to see among the fiery moments with Sens. Moreno and Hawley. Within the case of the Hawley questioning, viewers did not get to see among the questions associated to how Fauci obtained federal workers to chase awards for him. Moreover, viewers missed out on Sen. John Fetterman’s considerate speech and on Sen. Joni Ernst’s exposition of among the analysis Fauci backed- which concerned embedding human fetal cells into mice. Every part was, say it with me, Republicans Pounce.
The Fauci Diaries being held till the listening to after which buried inside is proof evident that the what the Elitist Media DON’T report is commonly extra vital than what they do.
Click on “develop” to view the complete transcript of the aforementioned report as aired on ABC World Information Tonight on Wednesday, July twenty ninth, 2026:
WHIT JOHNSON: We flip now to that fiery listening to on Capitol Hill centered on the origins of the Covid pandemic. Physician Anthony Fauci referred to as earlier than a Senate committee facering- going through a blistering assault from Republicans. The 85-year-old Fauci refusing to reply questions, invoking the Fifth Modification greater than 100 occasions. ABC’s Jay O’Brien on Capitol Hill.
JAY O’BRIEN: Physician Anthony Fauci, the person hundreds of thousands of Individuals turned to for solutions through the Covid pandemic…
RAND PAUL: The entire fact and nothing however the fact. So allow you to God.
O’BRIEN: …right this moment refusing to reply a single query from the senate’s homeland safety committee, accusing the Republican chairman, Senator Rand Paul, of getting an unhinged obsession with him.
ANTHONY FAUCI: The only real purpose he’s calling me earlier than this committee is to get me to say one thing, something that might vindicate his repeated public pledges that I find yourself, in his phrases, quote, “behind bars.”
O’BRIEN: In three hours. Fauci invoking the Fifth Modification greater than 100 occasions.
FAUCI: On the recommendation of counsel, I respectfully decline to reply.
O’BRIEN: Paul at one level threatening to kick Fauci’s lawyer out of the chamber.
PAUL: I stated, sit quietly. You aren’t acknowledged. One other phrase, and also you’re gone.
O’BRIEN: A few minute later…
PAUL: Safety, please take away him from the room.
O’BRIEN: The 85-year-old Fauci, who served in authorities for 54 years and has testified in additional than 200 hearings, sitting stone-faced as Republicans needled him.
JOSH HAWLEY: Nothing says honesty like taking the Fifth, huh Doc? Let’s attempt one thing. What day of the week is it right this moment?
FAUCI: On the recommendation of counsel, I respectfully decline to reply primarily based upon my rights beneath the Fifth Modification to the Structure.
HAWLEY: Nicely, what colour tie are you sporting?
FAUCI: On the recommendation of counsel, I respectfully decline to reply…
O’BRIEN: Paul pushing Fauci on whether or not he coated up the origins of Covid. Whereas most scientists consider the virus seemingly jumped from an animal to people, some U.S. Intelligence companies conclude it extra seemingly leaked from a lab in Wuhan, China.
PAUL: It is towards the legislation to impede an investigation of Congress. There might be repercussions to your refusal to testify right this moment.
O’BRIEN: Fauci insisting Paul is out to embarrass and intimidate him, pointing to the discharge of his private diaries, which had been found and handed over by Well being Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr. In them, Fauci, reflecting on his exploding fame because the virus unfold, writing,” I’m probably the most well-known and talked about particular person within the nation and some of the recognizable on this planet.” The physician describing his interactions with celebrities together with Julia Roberts, Kim Kardashian and Barbra Streisand, who as soon as referred to as him for vaccine recommendation.
RICK SCOTT: You liked each newspaper profile, each photograph shoot, each fancy dinner with the elites.
O’BRIEN: Democrats defending Fauci, saying he is being became a scapegoat.
RICHARD BLUMENTHAL: The marketing campaign to vilify you, physician Fauci, is only one a part of this bigger marketing campaign towards science and details, a marketing campaign that has made Individuals much less protected.
O’BRIEN: And Whit, Senator Paul saying tonight that his committee will vote subsequent week on whether or not to carry Fauci in contempt. It is price remembering Fauci has a blanket preemptive pardon from President Biden, right this moment President Trump saying that he respects that pardon, calling it “highly effective.” Whit.
JOHNSON: And Jay, there’s breaking information on one other entrance. Hassle for President Trump’s nominee for Legal professional Normal.
O’BRIEN: That is precisely proper, Whit. Texas Republican senator John Cornyn is standing in the best way of Todd Blanche’s affirmation. One among Cornyn’s calls for is that Blanche put in writing that that $1.8 billion fund that will have used taxpayer cash to pay Trump’s allies is formally lifeless. Cornyn canceling a gathering with Blanche right this moment. There is a massive committee vote set for tomorrow. It’s in limbo tonight now, Whit.
JOHNSON: All proper. Jay O’Brien for us tonight.
