Security around Dr Anthony Fauci is so tight that he’s not even allowed to open his car window, the infectious diseases expert revealed on Monday.
The revealing detail came out during an interview on LIVE with Kelly and Ryan, during which Dr Fauci described his delight at coming home to New York City for the first time since the pandemic started.
“And did you put the window down and look at people outside?” Ryan Seacrest asked him.
“They don’t let you put the window down,” Dr Fauci replied, drawing laughter from the audience.
Dr Fauci, who has served as a top medical adviser to presidents Trump and Biden, has become one of the United States’ most famous and popular public figures. But he is also reviled in some quarters, particularly by Mr Trump’s most ardent supporters, who sometimes chanted “Fire Fauci!” at his rallies.
Dr Fauci has said he has received multiple death threats since the pandemic began, and his daughters have been harassed as well.
“The threats come and go, it’s just really amazing,” he told CNN in March. “I could say something to you that somebody doesn’t like, like ‘you shouldn’t be removing mask mandates,’ and then all of a sudden you get a bunch of threats because people don’t like what you say.”
So it comes as little surprise that security around Dr Fauci is strict. After the car window comment, Seacrest laughed with exasperation.
“You gave up that privilege?” he asked, before joking that he and Ripa had trouble getting past Dr Fauci’s security as they arrived for the interview. “They barely let us here today!”
The fact that the hosts were focused on Dr Fauci’s security was notable, because seated next to him was their other guest, Dr Jill Biden. As first lady, Dr Biden is entitled to lifelong Secret Service protection.
The rest of the interview was light and cheerful. Though last week was a tough one for Dr Fauci, as a tranche of thousands of his emails was released, Seacrest and Ripa steered clear of that subject.
