Dr. Francis Collins, former NIH Director and current “science advisor” to Joe Biden, has long proclaimed himself and Dr. Anthony Fauci as “not political figures.” But newly leaked audio, obtained by The Daily Wire’s Meg Basham, tells a far different story.
This audio was recorded at an event held by Christianity Today and the Institute of Politics, a leftwing group founded by David Axelrod. Russell Moore, a favorite among socially left-leaning “evangelicals” like David French and Beth Moore, conducted the interview portion that included Collins.
It was followed by mocking Christians, dismissal of individual right, and falsified assertions regarding the legalities of vaccine mandates. But rest assured, none of this was political per Collins’ self-description.
“The US government does have the authority to mandate vaccinations if there is an outbreak that is threatening people, because it’s not just about you, it’s about the people you’re going to infect,” Collins claimed, even though science journals were already reporting by that point that vaccinated people were just as likely to spread the then-dominant Delta variant as those who were unvaccinated.
Collins went on to ask rhetorically, “Do [mandates] convince people who otherwise wouldn’t get them?” He answered himself, “Oh yeah, especially if it means losing your job.”
Collins might be less inclined to opine on legal matters, as that was objectively false. As most are aware, the Supreme Court ended up striking down the Biden administration’s federal vaccine mandate. Collins attempted to refer to Jacobson vs. Massachusetts (1905), a case that dealt with state-level mandates in his interview. This again shows Collins’ ignorance of the subject. It is striking how little empathy Collins shows for those who lose their jobs due to a mandate that has no scientific basis (everyone spreads COVID).
Collins later mocked Christians who valued personal liberty from the government.
Collins said evangelicals, in particular, over-emphasize notions of personal liberty when it comes to mandates, saying they have so “wrapped themselves in the flag and wrapped themselves in this concept of personal freedom, that public health just grates on them.”
“[Evangelicals] have forgotten many times that freedom is not just about rights,” Collins contended. He then employed a mocking caricature of a Southern accent, asking the students, “How many times have you heard, ‘Muh freedom means I got rights’? Okay, but you have another R-word, responsibilities. That’s what freedom is supposed to incorporate.”
I’m not sure what planet this man lives on, but freedom is actually about rights. You cannot have freedom without rights. Any violation of those rights will be logically considered to be a violation of freedom. The nod to “responsibilities” is a weak, commonly used excuse by government apparatchiks to force their agenda on others. Even tackling Collins’ claim on the merits, what responsibility to others does someone have to get vaccinated if the vaccine does not stop the spread of COVID?
Both Collins and Moore pointed out that they had spoken freely during the event, even though they weren’t aware it was being taped. Did they not know that smartphones were a reality?
Collins was eventually able to mock Christians, but not before trashing them.
Arguably the most politically pointed portion of Collins’ remarks came when Moore asked him about the political opinions of his fellow Christians. Collins answered by referencing an Atlantic article by anti-Trump pundit Peter Wehner, another member of his and Moore’s book club, that argued evangelicals have “embraced the worst aspects of our culture and our politics” and that “churches [have] become repositories not of grace but of grievances, places where tribal identities are reinforced, where fears are nurtured, and where aggression and nastiness are sacralized.”
I’m not sure what church Collins attends, but that’s not what my church looks like. Nor do I have any reason to believe that most evangelical churches have embraced “the worst aspects of our culture and politics” becoming “repositories not of grace but of grievances.” Such language has become common among liberal Christians who embrace far-left social ideals, yet they continually provide little proof for their claims.
Of course, the completely “not political” Collins also found time to bash Donald Trump, blaming the former president for the distrust that has been aimed at figures like Anthony Fauci. That’s a ludicrous contention given Fauci’s history of lies and partisanship. Yet, it’s another example of these career bureaucrats having no ability to practice introspection. Their failures are always someone else’s fault. And while Collins was apt to blame COVID deaths on Trump, there is no example I can find of Collins attacking the Biden administration despite the fact that more Americans died under the current president’s watch.
It is disturbing to see that Collins, a portion of American Christianity, has become so hostile toward traditional Christians, represented here by Christianity Today, that they embrace Collins’ pro-fetal tissue and pro-transgender ideology. Is there any standard for promotion? These socially liberal Christians love to play the guilt by association game (typically in regards to Trump) with others but obviously don’t apply that standard to themselves.
Astonishingly, when The Daily Wire reached out for comment on the leaked interview involving Collins, Moore’s assistant claimed he couldn’t respond because of scheduling commitments. You can speculate that he simply doesn’t have a good answer.
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