National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Anthony Fauci, who is the highest paid employee in the federal government, testified in front of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis Thursday.
Under questioning from Republican Congressman Jim Jordan, Fauci wouldn't give a timeline for when Americans can go back to their normal lives and made it a point to say he doesn't look at the pandemic as a "liberty thing."
"When do Americans get their freedom back?" Jordan asked.
"When we get the level of infection in this country low enough that it's not really a high..." Fauci responded.
"What is low enough? Give me a number. We had 15 days to slow the spread that turned into a year of lost liberty. What metrics, what measures, what has to happen before Americans get more freedom?" Jordan followed up.
"My message Congressman Jordan is to get as many people vaccinated as quickly as we possibly can to get the level of infection in this country low, that it is no longer a threat. That is when," Fauci said. "I don't look at this as a liberty thing Congressman Jordan. I look at this as a public health thing. I disagree with you on that completely."
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) April 15, 2021
Jordan continued to question Fauci, prompting Democrat Congresswoman Maxine Waters to jump in. Fauci then claimed Jordan was "making this a personal thing."
Dr. Fauci: "You're making this a personal thing. And it isn't."
— The Hill (@thehill) April 15, 2021
Rep. Jim Jordan: "It's not a personal thing."
Dr. Fauci: "No, you are. That is exactly what you're doing. " pic.twitter.com/riQNor8INn
Correction: A previous version of this post said Jordan was speaking during a House Judiciary Committeee hearing. It was a hearing held by the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis.