‘What day is it?’ Fauci pleads Fifth over 100 times, refuses to answer basic questions during Senate grilling | WATCH
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "‘What day is it?’ Fauci pleads Fifth over 100 times, refuses to answer basic questions during Senate grilling | WATCH")
Dr. Anthony Fauci testifies during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on July 29, 2026. Photograph: (AFP)
Anthony Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment over 100 times during a Senate hearing, refusing to answer even basic questions, including what day it was and the colour of his tie.
Former NIAID Director Anthony Fauci declined to answer questions at a Senate hearing on Wednesday (Jul 29), pleading the Fifth more than 100 times despite being told that he did not have that right given his current legal status. Fauci repeatedly invoked the Fifth Amendment right, which protects an individual against self-incrimination. However, a moment from the hearing went viral on social media after Fauci pleaded the Fifth when asked basic facts like what day it is or the colour of his tie.
When Senator Josh Hawley got visibly irritated by Fauci’s repeated invoking of the Fifth Amendment, he began testing his invocations.
“Let’s try something,” he said.
“What day of the week is it today?” Hawley asked, to which Fauci replied that he pleads the Fifth.
Also read | Trump claims US-Saudi strikes against pro-Iran militias in Iraq were coordinated with Baghdad
Hawley then asked him what colour his tie was, and what the colour of the carpet was. Fauci pleaded the Fifth for both simple questions, refusing to answer anything.
Trending Stories
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
Fauci denied to answer despite Republican Senator Rand Paul warning of consequences for his refusal to answer, given he was not allowed to plead the Fifth Amendment right to prevent him from answering senators’ questions and that a pardon from former president Joe Biden would not protect him.
“Let’s just get one thing straight. You don’t have any rights under the Fifth Amendment because you’ve been pardoned, as you very well know,” Hawley said, invoking the 1896 Brown v. Walker case. He added, “This isn’t about the law. This is about contempt, contempt for this body and contempt for the American people.”
The senator said, “But I think I know why you’re doing it. It’s because you don’t want to answer questions. It’s because you did all kinds of terrible things. It’s because during the pandemic, you got rich… while people were dying.”
Senator Bernie Moreno questioned if Fauci knew what the Fifth Amendment was. When asked to recite the law, Fauci ironically again pleaded the Fifth.
“No, I’m just asking you what it says,” Moreno repeated.
“On the advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer based upon my rights under the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution,” Fauci said once more.
Moreno even ordered an aide to bring a copy of the Constitution and instructed Fauci to read. The response was the same from the octogenarian immunologist.
“So you’re invoking a right that you don’t know who wrote it or what it says? Is that correct?” Moreno quipped. Fauci again invoked his Fifth Amendment right.
