Edgers recited some of Carlson’s recent statements about him. “‘Lord Fauci,’ he called you. ‘Has America put too much faith in just one man?’ ‘Unelected Fauci has been leading this country.’ ‘Fauci has made a lot of wrong predictions.’

“Does that get under our skin?” Edgers asked. “Does it bother you? On a humane level, do you feel threatened or concerned when you see that kind of thing floating out there?”

“I’m not concerned about what he says,” Fauci said. “It’s a little bit — I think you could say that when he does that, it triggers some of the crazies in society to start threatening me, actually threatening, which actually happens.”