Anthony Fauci Poses for Picture With Woman Pointing at Him With Middle Finger

On Saturday, “America’s Doctor” Anthony Fauci took a photo with a person he believed to be a fan, not realizing that he was at the receiving end of an obscene gesture. 

Melissa Rein Lively, the founder of America First PR, posted a photo of herself alongside Fauci, who has been the subject of intense scrutiny from many Republicans, particularly Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), a medical doctor, who has repeatedly questioned Fauci on many of his actions during the pandemic. 

Fauci appeared to believe the photo was being taken with a fan, apparently not realizing that Lively was giving him a one-finger salute as it was snapped. 

The photo comes just days after multiple federal intelligence agencies confirmed the long-denied theory that COVID-19 leaked from a Chinese Lab, likely the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

The U.S. Department of Energy assessed that the COVID-19 virus originated in a lab in Wuhan, China, which echoes the findings of multiple teams of scientists from as early as Mar 7, 2020. Over the course of the pandemic, those earlier assessments were rejected by Biden administration officials and federal health agencies such as the FDA and CDC.

Fauci was among the chief detractors of the lab leak theory and repeatedly dismissed it, calling it a “shiny object that will go away,” in an internal email from April 2020. 

Now, however, multiple agencies and prominent intelligence community officials, including FBI Director Christopher Wray, have concurred with the Department of Energy’s assessment. Wray told Fox News’ Bret Baier that COVID-19 “most likely” came from a Chinese lab.

“The FBI has for quite some time now assessed that the origins of the pandemic are most likely a potential lab incident in Wuhan,” Wray told Fox News in an interview that aired last week. “Here you are talking about a potential leak from a Chinese government-controlled lab,” said Wray.

“I will just make the observation that the Chinese government, it seems to me, has been doing its best to try to thwart and obfuscate the work here, the work that we’re doing, the work that our U.S. government and close foreign partners are doing,” Wray continued. “And that’s unfortunate for everybody.”