By Tyler Durden
During a Thursday congressional hearing, SaraACarter.com’s Douglass Braff reports that  a shouting match erupted between GOP Rep. Jim Jordan (Ohio) and Dr. Anthony Fauci over COVID-19 restrictions when Jordan pressed Fauci on when Americans can expect things to return to normal, bringing up civil liberties.
âWhen is the time?â Jordan asked during House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus hearing titled âReaching the Light at the End of the Tunnel: Ending COVID-19â. âWhen do Americans get their freedom back? We had 15 days to slow the spread, turned into a year of lost liberties.â
âWhen we get the level of infection in this country low enough that it is not a really high threat,â Fauci replied.
âWhat is low enough? Give me a number [âŠ] what metrics, what measures, what has to happen before Americans get their freedoms?â the Ohio Republican asked.
Fauci replied that his message was to make sure as many Americans as possible get vaccinated quickly âto get the level of infection in this country low that it is no longer a threat.â
Unsatisfied, Jordan continued to press him on this until Fauci took issue with the congressmanâs framing of the issue as one of civil liberties.
âYouâre indicating liberty and freedom. I look at it as a public health measure to prevent people from dying and going to hospital,â Fauci said, adding that life will return to normal when people get vaccinated.
âYou donât think Americansâ liberties have been threatened the last year, Dr. Fauci?â Jordan asked, raising his voice. âTheyâve been assaulted!â
Rep. Jordan (R-OH) demands Dr. Fauci give him a date for the end of COVID mitigation measures:
â15 days to slow the spread turned into 1 year of lost liberty.â
Fauci says: âI donât look at this as a liberty thing, Congressman Jordan. I look at this as a public health thing.â pic.twitter.com/Pgv2mEySeo
— The Recount (@therecount) April 15, 2021
Later on, the congressman brought up the various types of COVID-19 restrictions that have been put in place throughout the pandemicâsuch as those on houses of worship, having guests in oneâs home, and curfewsâarguing that they violated peopleâs constitutional rights.
The Congressman implored Fauci for an empirical answer:
âAre we gonna be here two years from now wearing masks âŠ?â
Dr. Fauci mumbled a shockingly disrespectful response:
âYouâre ranting again.â
And that’s when Jordan lost what little cool he had left:Â âHereâs how it works, Dr. Fauci. I get to ask you the questions.â
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH): âAre we gonna be here two years from now wearing masks âŠ?â
Dr. Fauci: âYouâre ranting again.â
Rep. Jordan: âHereâs how it works, Dr. Fauci. I get to ask you the questions.â pic.twitter.com/7ufdQ65zG8
— The Recount (@therecount) April 15, 2021
Subsequently, Jordan claimed people have been censored because they dared to disagree with Fauci, citing a video where physicians disagreed with Fauciâs positions. This led to Fauci to claim that the congressman was making things personal.
âItâs not a personal thing,â Jordan claimed, to which Fauci shouted back: âYou are! That is exactly what youâre doing.â
After Jordanâs time expired, committee Chairman Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) said that he would be pleased once 90% of Congress is vaccinated. This prompted the Ohio Republican to ask Fauci again for a specific standard.
âWhen? What are the numbers?â he asked.
âRight now weâre at an unacceptably high level,â Fauci said.
âWhat youâre going to see as more and more people get vaccinated and we get over three million people a day, youâre going to see the level of infection come down and down, and gradually there will be more flexibility for doing the things that youâre talking about.â
Jordan continued to press him for a specific number. But, as Fauci started to give a response, the next committee member began to speak, thanking Clyburn.
âIâd like my question answered!â Jordan shouted, in response to which Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) yelled:
âYou need to respect the chair and shut your mouth!â
âDonât worry about this, weâre going to handle this,â Clyburn responded. âI think Mr. Jordan knows me very well, and he knows full well that weâre going to handle this.â
Jordan thanked the South Carolina Democrat, and the hearing proceeded, with the Ohio Republican and Fauci sparring some more in subsequent rounds of questioning.