Aaron Rodgers — who was criticized for refusing to adhere to the NFL’s COVID-19 protocol at the height of the pandemic — is attacking Dr. Anthony Fauci following the physician’s contentious Senate hearing on the government’s response to the public health crisis.
“I’m going to plead the fifth, like that absolute coward, Tony Fauci,” Rodgers, 42, said while appearing on the Monday, August 3, episode of ESPN’s The Pat McAfee Show. “Absolute coward. Yeah. Are you kidding me? You got a pardon, and you pleaded over 100 times at the White House?” (Fauci, 85, received a preemptive presidential pardon from former president Joe Biden on January 20, 2025.)
The NFL quarterback continued, “What are you scared of, Tony? I thought you were the science. I thought you were, ‘I am science,’ and you get up there and you can’t answer a question?”
On July 29, Fauci declined to answer numerous questions during a fiery Senate hearing on the origins of COVID and the government’s handling of the pandemic. In prepared remarks, the On Call: A Doctor’s Journey in Public Service author said he wanted to avoid the very real possibility that Republicans would use portions of his testimony to potentially prosecute him for perjury. (Republican lawmakers have long threatened to prosecute Fauci for his role in the COVID-19 response. In the wake of his Senate hearing, Republican Sen. Rand Paul has scheduled a vote on a resolution that would hold the scientist in contempt of Congress, per Politico.)
Rodgers also appeared to take aim at various networks who spent time covering his own controversial remarks regarding the pandemic — and his refusal to obtain the safe and effective COVID vaccine — at the height of the crisis.
“How much time did the network spend on that? How much time did they spend on my responses every week, on my vaccination status? On Taylor [Swift] and Travis [Kelce’s] wedding? Did they do even a minute?” he argued. “Did they do even a minute on Tony Fauci? Nah I bet they didn’t.”
Rodgers sparked controversy in November 2021 when he tested positive for COVID-19 and admitted he was unvaccinated, despite previously telling reporters he was “immunized.” He was ordered to pay $14,650 for breaking the NFL’s COVID-19 protocols.
After Fauci’s Senate hearing testimony, Rodgers believes people should be less focused on his and other players’ personal lives and more on issues that impact the nation.
"I'm pleading the Fifth 😂😂
You've gotta be kidding me" ~ @AaronRodgers12 #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/kg3y0uMxxR
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) August 3, 2026
“Writing in his diary about how fun it is to be famous. You got to be kidding me,” the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback told host Pat McAfee. “Seriously, what are they going to say about me now? Now you can’t talk about the COVID stuff because obviously it was made, you know, in a lab in China. That’s not even questionable anymore. Tony Fauci is an absolute criminal.” (There is no definitive proof or scientific finding that has determined COVID-19 was purposefully made in a lab.)
In a diary entry from May 2020, Fauci wrote about the ramifications of becoming a household name during the pandemic. At no point, despite Republican claims, did the immunologist write that he wished to find fame as a result of the deadly pandemic.
“The situation with my national and international fame is explosive and really unimaginable,” he wrote via USA Today. “It is not [hyperbole] to say that today I am the most famous and talked about person in the country and one of the most recognizable [person] in the world.”
During his rant, Rodgers also made a point to remind viewers that he’s “on good terms” with his family.
“What are you gonna say now?” he asked, pointing to the media coverage of his family’s previous estrangement as another point of contention for the quarterback.
In July, Aaron made headlines when he shared photos with his once estranged mom Darla Rodgers, dad Ed Rodgers and brother Luke Rodgers. (It’s unclear where Aaron stands with his brother and The Bachelorette alum Jordan Rodgers.)
“It’s been a great, great life and a great career, and it’s nice to be sitting on this side now, especially after that coward pleaded the Fifth over 100 times,” Aaron said of his family and when referencing Fauci once again. “Why couldn’t you, uh, answer one question the entire time?”
In a statement to Us, Fauci’s attorney highlighted his client’s 54 years of public service at the National Institutes of Health, where the physician “established a lengthy record of cooperation with Congressional oversight and inquiries, including frequent testimony in both the Senate and the House during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“The circumstances surrounding Dr. Fauci’s appearance today before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, pursuant to a subpoena issued by Committee Chairman Rand Paul (R-KY), regrettably made his continued cooperation impossible,” the statement read. “For that reason, on the advice of his legal counsel, Dr. Fauci asserted his right under the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to decline to answer questions.”
The statement continued, “Dr. Fauci devoted his lengthy career to saving millions of lives globally through scientific discovery and sound public health policy. The accusations that Chairman Paul continues to propagate are false and disgraceful, and we will examine all options to hold him accountable.”
