WATCH: ‘Dr. Fauci, we owe you an apology.’ Rep. Mfume praises Fauci’s work despite critics

Rep. Kweisi Mfume, D-Maryland, praised Dr. Anthony Fauci for his leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic amid Republican attacks during Congressional testimony Monday.

Blaming conspiracy theories for the deaths of more than 1 million people, Mfume thanked public health workers, including Fauci, for their work to prevent severe outcomes and death during the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic hearing.

“Dr. Fauci, we owe you an apology for the way we have raked you through the mud, and none of us have said to you, ’Here’s where you go to get your good name and reputation back,’” Mfume said. “It’s the most unfair thing I have seen.”

The hearing was the latest effort among Republicans to question the U.S. response to the pandemic, including how pandemic prevention plans were created and communicated. Monday’s session was in part focused on the origins of the pandemic and the nation’s role in virus research in China. There are a number of theories about how COVID’s spread began, including a natural jump from animals to humans and a laboratory leak. Intelligence assessments on how the virus began are inconclusive.

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