Dr. Fauci: "I've Been Villainized" But "There's No Chance I'm Going To Walk Away From This"

STEPHANIE RUHLE, MSNBC: I have to ask you about how dangerous the anti-vax movement is because it's not just about getting the shot. Two weeks ago in a congressional hearing, you went into detail about the threats you face every day. Again, just yesterday, we heard these people go after you, go after President Biden. Are we underestimating how dangerous, how potentially violent this anti-vax movement is? And what's it like for you day after day?

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI: Well, I do believe it has been an underestimation of the numbers of people who are taken in by the misinformation associated with the anti-vaccination movement. It's really very disturbing.

I mean, obviously, there's always been a smaller element of people who for one reason or other were inherently against vaccination. But when you have vaccines that have now been given to billions of people throughout the world, in which clinical trials and real-world evidence have shown that they are highly effective, particularly against severe disease, hospitalization, and deaths, the numbers are incontrovertible.

If you look at the charts of people who have been hospitalized and dying and compare it between unvaccinated people and vaccinated people, particularly those who have been boosted, the gap between the two are stunning in the sense of the risk among people who are unvaccinated.

And yet, you have the misinformation and the disinformation that was manifested yesterday at the rally in Washington, D.C.

Since I have been spending a considerable amount of time trying to propagate public health principles of why it's important for the protection of the individual, of their family, and of society to get vaccinated, for that reason, I've been villainized. It doesn't feel good but it's just a fact of life of where we are in society right now with disinformation and misinformation tends to rule in many respects.

RUHLE: Does any of this make you want to leave your post, leave your job? What does your family say?

FAUCI: Obviously, it's very stressful on my family, my children, my wife, the continued attacks, and the ad hominems that are related to nothing but pushing back on the public health principles I talk about, but this is too important. This is the kind of thing [to which] I've dedicated my career in public health, science, medicine, and we are in a crisis and there's no chance I'm going to walk away from this. This is something that's too important.

RUHLE: Well, I am sincerely appreciative you are not walking away from this post. You make us smarter and safer and better every day. Thank you, Dr. Fauci. People born December 24, they're really special.