Political commentator Bill O’Reilly sharply criticized former White House chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci following Wednesday’s contentious Senate hearing, where Fauci repeatedly invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination as Republican lawmakers pressed him over his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Speaking during an appearance on NewsNation’s “Katie Pavlich Tonight,” O’Reilly argued that Fauci’s refusal to answer questions throughout the roughly three-hour hearing was a deliberate legal strategy designed to shield himself from additional legal risk.
“I hate to say this about an 85-year-old man who was in public service for 35 years, but Dr. Fauci is a weasel,” O’Reilly said during the interview. “The reason I say that is because he’s purely a swamp creature, purely somebody who uses his position to try to advance himself.”
Fauci appeared before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, where Republicans used the hearing to air longstanding criticisms of his leadership during the pandemic. Throughout the proceedings, Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment 111 times, declining to answer questions from members of the committee.
O’Reilly pointed to several exchanges during the hearing in which Republican senators highlighted Fauci’s refusal to answer even routine questions.
Among the most notable moments came when Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) posed a series of simple questions that he appeared to know Fauci would decline to answer.
“What day of the week is it today?” Hawley asked.
He followed with additional questions, including, “What color tie are you wearing?” and “What color is the carpet in front of you?”
Each time, Fauci gave the same response.
“On the advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer based upon my rights under the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution,” he replied.
O’Reilly said one moment in particular stood out during the exchange.
“He actually did look at the carpet when Hawley asked him about the carpet,” O’Reilly said.
The former Fox News host contended that Fauci’s legal team advised him to invoke the Fifth Amendment consistently rather than answer any questions posed by senators.
According to O’Reilly, that strategy was intended to prevent Republicans from obtaining answers they could later use in efforts to pursue legal action. During the hearing, several Republican lawmakers accused Fauci of being responsible for COVID-related deaths, vaccine injuries, and damaging public confidence in the nation’s healthcare system.
Although Fauci received a pardon from former President Joe Biden on his final day in office covering potential federal offenses committed between Jan. 1, 2014, and Jan. 19, 2025, O’Reilly argued that answering questions selectively could still create legal complications.
“The instructions were, look, you got the blanket pardon from President Biden. If you go away from that, if you deviate out of the Fifth, they can make it a lot easier to bring you in on a contempt of Congress and other charges,” O’Reilly said. “So no matter what they do, you just say Fifth Amendment, Fifth Amendment.”
While O’Reilly maintained that Fauci’s repeated invocations were intended to avoid additional legal exposure, he argued they also underscored the broader criticism Republicans directed at the former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director during the hearing.
[READ MORE: Trump Grows Frustrated as Iran Conflict Drags On, Sources Say]
