Fox host doubles down on outrageous comparison of Fauci to Nazi ‘Angel of Death’ doctor as network remains silent

By Oliver Darcy, CNN Business

Lara Logan, a Fox News personality and host on the network’s streaming service, appeared on Wednesday to stand by her widely condemned comparison of Dr. Anthony Fauci to an infamous Nazi doctor — all while the right-wing channel remains silent about the matter.

Logan tweeted a number of articles about how the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which Fauci heads, decades ago funded clinical trials of drugs on HIV-positive foster children.

The suggestion seemed to be that the research was somehow akin to the grotesque — and often lethal — experiments that the infamous Nazi doctor Josef Mengele performed on unwilling prisoners at Auschwitz with no regard to their safety or physical and emotional pain.

Wednesday’s tweets come one day after Logan was condemned by the Anti-Defamation League, Auschwitz Museum, and American Jewish Committee for comparing Fauci and to Mengele, who was known as the “Angel of Death” for performing brutal experiments on those at the Auschwitz death camp.

But instead of apologizing, Logan doubled down, continuing in her aim to demonize Fauci.

While on her Twitter rant, Logan bizarrely posted links to two websites that promoted the fringe and false claim that AIDS is not caused by HIV.

Logan also amplified an attack on the Auschwitz Museum, retweeting a user who slammed the organization for criticizing her comments the day before. A representative for the Auschwitz Museum told CNN that she meanwhile had blocked the organization’s account on Twitter.

A Fox News representative did not respond to requests for comment on Logan’s Wednesday behavior, which comes during the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah.

Consistent with how it handles many controversies, the right-wing channel has ignored questions about Logan’s incendiary rhetoric since the backlash first erupted when she made her comments Monday night.

But Logan’s choice to stand by her remarks, and Fox News’ refusal to address the matter, earned both fresh criticism on Wednesday.

“It’s not surprising that neither Logan or Fox News have apologized for the incredibly offensive remarks Logan made on a program earlier this week comparing Dr. Fauci to Nazi war criminal Josef Mengele,” Anti-Defamation League spokesman Jake Hyman told CNN Business in a statement.

“Logan and the network seem to be immune to shame and allergic to remorse,” Hyman added. “It’s equally disturbing, yet also not surprising, Logan would double-down this morning on Twitter. Make no mistake, these odious comparisons only serve to trivialize and distort the meaning and memory of the Holocaust.”

Holly Huffnagle, the American Jewish Committee’s director for combating antisemitism, said in a Wednesday statement that it is “deeply upsetting that not only has Lara Logan failed to apologize for likening Dr. Fauci to Nazi war criminal Josef Mengele, she also appears to be doubling down on this disgusting comparison on social media.”

“Holocaust distortion is an attack on Jewish identity and memory, and Logan should apologize immediately,” Huffnagle said. “We also call on her employer Fox to voice their disapproval of her statements. Their silence has been deafening.”

Michael Bornstein, a survivor of the Auschwitz death camp, also appeared on CNN’s “New Day” Wednesday morning and called Logan’s comments “disgusting.”

Bornstein told anchor John Berman that “there is absolutely zero comparison” to be made between Mengele, who committed unspeakable atrocities, and Fauci, who is working to save lives amid a global pandemic.

His daughter, Debbie Bornstein Holinstat, who co-wrote a book about the Holocaust with her father, described Logan’s comment as “sickening.” She also blasted Fox News for remaining silent on the matter.

“For a network to not stand up … is equally disturbing,” she said.

Logan was formerly a correspondent for CBS News’ famed program “60 Minutes.” At the network, she faced significant scrutiny for errors in a report she did on the Benghazi attack, ultimately resulting in her apologizing for the inaccuracies and being forced to take a leave of absence.

Logan left CBS News in 2018 and joined Fox News in 2020. She told The Los Angeles Times when she joined that she wasn’t “trying to be an opinion person,” but has since become one of the right-wing channel’s most conspiratorial talking heads.

The-CNN-Wire
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