The White House released a four-minute vaccine awareness video on Friday featuring Dr. Anthony Fauci and actress and singer Olivia Rodrigo.
The clip saw the White House’s chief medical officer and pop star read a series of tweets celebrating the coronavirus vaccine, with many heaping praise on Fauci himself.
At one point, Rodrigo and an out-of-frame White House aide laughingly explained why Fauci was tagged as one user’s “Man Crush Monday,” prompting the virologist to joke that if that’s what it takes to get people vaccinated, so be it.
Concerts, vaccines, bobbleheads, and even #ManCrushMonday: watch Olivia Rodrigo and Dr. Fauci read fan tweets. pic.twitter.com/NnwKwrkNWW
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) July 16, 2021
Fauci, the public face of both the Trump and Biden administrations’ pandemic responses, has come under significant fire in recent months, especially for his shifting recommendations regarding mask use. Furthermore, emails obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request showed that Fauci was aware of the at least partial validity of the lab leak theory, even while publicly denying the idea that the coronavirus originated from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
“Once I knew that it got out there and it was going to get very carefully scrutinized by very far-right, radical people who clearly are trying to discredit me, no doubt about that, that’s political,” Fauci said of the then-newly released emails.
“It’s clear, it’s anti-science, and it’s anti-me,” he claimed, adding that “every single one of those emails can be explained in a way that is perfectly normal, perfectly innocent, and completely above board.”
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President Joe Biden later retweeted the video, adding that “it’s never been more convenient or more important to get vaccinated,” and he urged people to used government resources “to find a vaccine near you.”
Folks, it has never been more convenient or more important to get vaccinated. Watch Fauci and @Olivia_Rodrigo answer fan tweets — and then head to vaccines.gov to find a vaccine near you.
Folks, it’s never been more convenient or more important to get vaccinated. Watch Dr. Fauci and @Olivia_Rodrigo answer fan tweets – and then head to https://t.co/4MYpWqXVVo to find a vaccine near you. pic.twitter.com/TiMzFwf3XL
— President Biden (@POTUS) July 16, 2021
The White House published a teaser for the full-length video shortly after Rodrigo arrived at the White House on Wednesday.
Olivia Rodrigo is at the White House today to meet with President Biden and Dr. Fauci and discuss the importance of young Americans getting vaccinated. pic.twitter.com/s95KtOkrsF
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) July 14, 2021
That teaser followed Rodrigo making an appearance at the White House press briefing on Wednesday, in which she claimed to be in “awe” of the administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.
“I want to say I am beyond honored and humbled to be here today to help spread the message about the importance of youth vaccination,” she told reporters at the top of the briefing. “I’m in awe of the work President Biden and Dr. Fauci have done and was happy to help lend my support to this important initiative.”
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Rodrigo added that “it’s important to have conversations with friends and family members, encouraging all communities to get vaccinated, and actually get to a vaccination site, which you can do more easily than ever before, given how many sites we have and how easy it is to find them at Vaccines.gov.”
