ESPN
US Senator Rand Paul was a fan of Aaron Rodgers' comments about Anthony Fauci
United States Senator Rand Paul caught Aaron Rodgers’ recent comments about Dr. Anthony Fauci on The Pat McAfee Show and was clearly a fan. Rodgers called Fauci an “absolute criminal” following his frequent use of the Fifth Amendment during a Congressional testimony.
On Monday, the 42-year-old Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback appeared on The Pat McAfee Show and resumed his six-year-long beef with Anthony Fauci by using a question about his mindset entering the season to call the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases a coward and a criminal.
Senator Rand Paul praised Aaron Rodgers for calling Anthony Fauci a “coward” and an “absolute criminal” on The Pat McAfee Show
“I’m gonna plead the 5th. Like that absolute coward Tony Fauci. Absolute coward. Are you kidding me? What are you scared of Tony? I thought you were science?” Rodgers said. “Tony Fauci is an absolute criminal. I’m on good terms with my family. What are you gonna say now? I told you I’ll be on the right side of history.”
The comments were in response to Dr. Fauci’s Senate testimony on July 29, in which he invoked the Fifth Amendment over 100 times in response to questions from Senator Rand Paul and others about pandemic policies and COVID-19’s origins — the same hearing that prompted Stephen A. Smith’s apology to Kyrie Irving and Vic Fangio’s press conference joke.
Paul, predictably, loved it Rodgers’ comments and publicly praised them on social media.
.@AaronRodgers12 is absolutely right. https://t.co/IL3VWHlRMs
— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) August 3, 2026
Rodgers also used his McAfee Show appearance to go after ESPN’s Dianna Russini and her alleged relationship with Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel, saying “nobody can f—— talk about it.”
In response to Rodgers’ comments, an ESPN spokesperson said the network has no comment, while the Pittsburgh Steelers said their players are “entitled to their own personal views.”