Dr. Anthony Fauci incorrectly stated how much money he makes and claimed not to know how much his pension would be worth in a Tuesday interview with Neil Cavuto.
Fauci claimed that a pension of “almost $400,000” is impossible because that’s more than his annual salary. He also claimed he has no idea how much his pension payments would be and that it played no role in his decision to retire from government service at the end of this year.
“You know, Neil, I don’t know where he got that number. Would you please have him call me up and tell me where they got that number?” Fauci told Cavuto. “Neil, I don’t even know, to be honest with you, but I would be very, very surprised if it was over $400,000. You don’t get a pension more than your salary, and that would be more than my salary.”
Cavuto had referenced a Washington Times article published Monday, which reported Fauci’s pension would be approximately $414,000 per year, citing nonprofit government spending watchdog Open The Books.
Fauci’s claim that $400,000 is more than his actual salary is false, according to Open The Books. Fauci earned $417,608 in 2019, $434,312 in 2020 and $456,028 in 2021, according to Open The Books.
Federal employees like Fauci would typically be entitled to a pension of roughly 80% of their salary, which would be north of $360,000 for the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, according to Open The Books. Federal pensions also scale up with cost of living increases. (RELATED: ‘Sociopathic Liar And Political Hack’: America Reacts To Fauci’s Retirement Announcement)
“So to be honest with you, totally, I don’t even know what it is. But some newspaper pulls it out of their ear and starts talking about it, I don’t even know what they’re talking about,” Fauci exasperated before Cavuto moved on to a new topic.
Fauci announced Monday he’d step down as director of NIAID and chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden in December to pursue the “next chapter” of his career.