South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem slammed Dr. Anthony Fauci for accusing her of ignoring experts in her state’s response to COVID-19, insisting that she was able to listen to experts while telling the citizens of her state the “truth” about the virus.
“You indicated I ignored medical advice, and I didn’t listen to my health experts. And I most certainly did,” Noem responded to Fauci during a Sunday appearance on Face the Nation. “In South Dakota, we took this virus very seriously. What I did, though, is tell my people the truth. I gave them personal responsibility over decisions for their family’s public health, but also gave them the flexibility they needed to keep their businesses open, take care of their employees and their customers.”
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“I really do believe that as this virus has spread throughout the country, that people needed that flexibility,” Noem said. “South Dakota is doing well. We’ve had some tragic situations, but I know that respecting them and my role and the authority that I have as governor has been incredibly helpful to get our state get through this challenging time.”
The comments came after Noem used much of her speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference to criticize public health experts, specifically pointing to Fauci at one point.
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“In South Dakota, I provided all of the information that we had to our people, and then I trusted to make the best decisions for themselves [on how to prevent the spread of the virus] for their families and in turn their communities,” Noem said during the speech. “We never focused on the case numbers. Instead, we kept our eye on hospital capacity. Now, Dr. Fauci, he told me that on my worst day, I’d have 10,000 patients in the hospital on our worst day, we had a little over six hundred.”
“I don’t know if you agree with me, but Dr. Fauci is wrong a lot,” Noem continued.
Before Noem’s Face the Nation appearance, Fauci was asked to respond to the governor’s comments during his own appearance on the show.
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“It’s unfortunate, but it’s not really helpful,” Fauci said. “Just take a look at the numbers, they don’t lie.”
