Fauci to Resign, Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo Celebrates

TALLAHASSEE (FLV) – Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo expressed celebration with a party emoji after Dr. Anthony Fauci said he would leave the federal government in December.

Fauci is the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and serves as the chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden.

Ladapo has previously criticized Fauci and the Biden Administration’s health and policy recommendations during the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, Fauci has been a supporter of children receiving the COVID vaccine while the Florida Department of Health recommended against it.

“Even though the chances of [a child] getting sick and seriously ill are small — why do you want to take a chance of that with your child, when you can essentially protect the child by an intervention that is proven to be both highly effective and very safe?” Fauci asked.

Instead, Ladapo said he recommended against pediatric COVID-19 vaccines for children under five citing “no data” that prove the vaccine is more effective than the placebo in reducing severe illness.

“It is unfortunate that the information you released is perpetuating confusion among the public. Parents are in the best position to make these decisions for their children,” Ladapo said. “Florida remains committed to making recommendations and decisions based on data and science – not ideology.” 

U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds has said investigations will be held “on just about everybody” if Republicans win the House in November and signaled Fauci could be involved.

“Memo to Dr. Fauci, just because you resign, doesn’t mean you can’t be called to testify before Congress!” Donalds said Monday.

Gov. Ron DeSantis also went against Fauci’s criticism and decided to reopen schools.

“When we had the schools open, there were a lot of people who were not supportive of that … The media was very critical, other folks – Fauci and these people – were criticizing us,” DeSantis said in June.