Fauci opposes judge ending transit mask mandate: 'This is a CDC issue, it should not have been a court issue'



Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, voiced his opposition to a judge ending the public transit mask mandate.

Fauci made the comments in an interview with Kasie Hunt on CNN that was published Thursday.

"Both surprised and disappointed because those types of things really are the purview of the CDC. This is a public health issue, and for a court to come in and if you look at the rationale for that, it really is not particularly firm, and we are concerned about that, about courts getting involved in what is unequivocally a public health decision, I mean this is a CDC issue, it should not be a court issue," said Fauci.

U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle said Monday that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had exceeded its statutory authority when it ordered the mandate on public transit.

"So we're hoping that the inevitable increase in cases which we're seeing are not going to be associated with an increase in hospitalizations. So all of these dynamic things going on at the same time, it was perfectly logical for the CDC to say, 'Wait a minute, we were planning on ending this mandate on a certain date, let's wait a period of time until May 3rd.' Which was a very sound public health decision," Fauci continued.

"So for a court to come in and interfere in that is really unfortunate," he added. "It's unfortunate because it's against public health principles, number one, and number two, is because that's no place for the courts to do that, this is a CDC decision and that's very bad precedent when you have courts making a decision. And looking at what the basis of the decision was, it was not sound."

Liberals have criticized the judge who issued the order to end the mandate because she was appointed by former President Donald Trump. Others say that the premature end of the mandate is putting the public at risk, but polling shows that the end of the mandate is very popular.

Here's the video of Fauci's comments:

WATCH: Dr. Fauci tells me on #TheSourceKasie "This is a CDC issue, it should not have been a court issue." @CNNpic.twitter.com/rZZyHnFqJ5
— Kasie Hunt (@Kasie Hunt) 1650575322

CNN religion commentator says the unvaccinated should not be attending Christmas services



CNN religion commentator Fr. Edward Beck, a Roman Catholic Priest, said in an appearance on "New Day" Friday that unvaccinated Christians should not attend Christmas services.

Yep. I said it. I don\u2019t think unvaccinated people should be gathering in churches for Christmas Eve / Day Masses. \u201cLove thy neighbor,\u201d says the Savior. \u2066@EricaRHill\u2069 \u2066@jimsciutto\u2069 \u2066@NewDay\u2069 @cnnpic.twitter.com/3iCghHpV4I
— Father Edward Beck (@Father Edward Beck) 1640359350

Most Christian denominations, including the Catholic church, consider Christmas to be among the holiest days of the year, and Christmas Eve services are regularly among the most attended of the year.

Beck, however, claimed that Jesus would not want Christians who are not vaccinated to participate in the holiday that was instituted to celebrate his birth.

In the segment, host Jim Sciutto began the discussion by asking Beck how churches can get people to come back to services in light of the fact that more and more people are withdrawing into their homes.

Unprompted, Beck turned the occasion into an opportunity to lecture the audience with a non-responsive answer that instead focused on the importance of keeping certain people out of worship services.

"I think that what we're trying to say to people is you have a social responsibility if you do gather... you know, Christian churches, many are gathering this evening. And some are still not requiring vaccination, which I disagree with. I think that part of caring for one another, you know, the dictum of Jesus, who we celebrate his birth, is, 'Love one another.' Show compassion. Show mercy to each other. So I think the message is that if we want to act like Jesus in these kind of times, we take care of each other."

Beck did not offer a scripture that would have suggested that Jesus would have supported excluding people from worship who made health care decisions, but he did continue, "And if we're going to gather in celebration, we have to do so safely, comfortably, and we have to give to one another that gift of peace, and part of that is health, and feeling like we're gathering in a healthy environment. So I really hope as people gather in celebration to celebrate the birth of Christ, that we keep that in mind... you know, I don't think there's any reason to say, 'I'm not going to get vaccinated today,' you know, maybe a health reason, but then you can't come to church with services with other people right now."

Beck's comments were roundly condemned on Twitter, with over 3,000 almost uniformly negative replies compared to just over 500 likes at the time of this reporting.