A GOP congressional candidate and the chairman of the Oklahoma Republican Party said “we should try Anthony Fauci and put him in front of a firing squad” during a campaign speech about the 2020 election, vaccine and mask mandates and “wokeness” in America.
Video of the remarks by John Bennett, who is running for the 2nd Congressional District in Oklahoma, was shared on Tuesday by the group Right Wing Watch.
“We’re in a war with bureaucrats who have forced vaccine mandates on us, mask mandates on us, and you know what — they are pushing this wokeness confusion down our throats,” Bennett says in the clip. “And by the way, we should try Anthony Fauci and put him in front of a firing squad.
Bennett then quipped the Secret Service was “listening,” before calling for Fauci to face a trial.
“I’m not advocating we kill Anthony Fauci until he’s convicted of his crimes through a court,” he added.
It was not immediately clear where the remarks were made or when. The Hill has reached out to Bennett’s campaign as well as Fauci’s office.
Fauci, the government’s top expert on infectious diseases who has served under a number of administrations and now is a senior adviser to Biden, has frequently come under criticism from the right, to the point of it creating worries for his safety.
Fauci, who is also the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has faced tough criticism from conservatives for advising on mask mandates, vaccines and other restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The criticism has sometimes turned very ugly, and Fauci has received death threats over his policies, including a man who sent emails saying Fauci should be “dragged into the street, beaten to death, and set on fire.”
Bennett, a former state House representative, has led the Oklahoma Republican Party since 2021. He is expected to step down from the post to focus on his congressional campaign.
He is running to fill the seat being vacated by Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R), who is running for the Senate.