House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) probably thought he had the perfect line to troll Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and chief medical adviser to the president, who announced that he would be retiring after over 50 years as one the nation’s top experts on disease.
Appearing on Fox News, McCarthy told host Jesse Watters:
“I just have one rule of thumb: I really don’t trust anyone that keeps a mural of themselves in their office. I just think those types of individuals should have to come and answer the questions.”
HuffPost reports that Dr. Fauci does indeed have a portrait of himself in his office:
The Fauci image was painted in 2020 by singer/songwriter/artist Joan Baez to honor him as someone who has “made meaningful social change without the use of violence.”
However, there is a person who has portraits of himself painted and pays for them, although usually not with his own money: Disgraced ex-president Donald Trump.
Trump has a large portrait of himself at his Mar-a-Lago resort and famously lined the walls of his New York office with magazine covers featuring his visage. His post-presidential office even features a small statue of Trump.
That boomeranged badly on McCarthy, who is already under fire from Trump. The failed, one-term former president recently called him “very very foolish” for failing to appoint Republicans to the House Select Committee investigating the January 6, 2021 Capitol insurrection.
McCarthy was thoroughly mocked on Twitter for his “trust” declaration.
