Former USC Trojans Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Matt Leinart drew a lot of criticism this week when he re-shared a controversial post criticizing Dr. Anthony Fauci, who helped lead the United States through the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Monday, Matt Leinart re-shared a post from The Daily Mail which claimed that Dr. Anthony Fauci admitted that he “made up” some of the COVID-19 guidelines that were designed to stop the spread of the disease.
“REVEALED: Dr. Anthony Fauci confesses he ‘made up’ covid rules including 6 feet social distancing and masking kids,” the post said, which was shared by Leinart.
REVEALED: Dr. Anthony Fauci confesses he 'made up' covid rules including 6 feet social distancing and masking kids https://t.co/HK6PsAxifM pic.twitter.com/vENuV1IAz6
— Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) June 2, 2024
This was a controversial thing to share because as the X community notes point out, that is not really what Fauci said at all.
“This headline is misleading. Dr Fauci did not confess to ‘making up’ COVID rules. He stated that he could not recall the first mention of the ‘6ft rule’ but discussed the area of spray of a sneeze as a logical part of that discussion,” the community note said.
Needless to say, Leinart’s decision to re-share such a misleading post sparked a lot of outrage on social media.
We all saw the video. And he definitely did not say this https://t.co/ECu1TFZQ1r
— Rumble Young Man Rumble (@agentlinton) June 3, 2024
This is what happens when you spend your senior year in college taking… "checks notes".. ballroom dancing.
— ~0~ #VoteBlueToSaveAmerica (Blue Check)🐀 (@PaxNostrum) June 3, 2024
Well, he seems perfectly qualified to make good public health policy !
— Josh Fox (@SingleChairWx) June 3, 2024
I appreciate when people reveal themselves
— NaomiOsaka’sPlaylist (@TomJoad2Night) June 3, 2024
Pretty sad. I also recall that time in October 2007 when he was sipping chardonnay and groused to Yahoo Sports that there was no question that he deserved to be the Cardinals starter over Kurt Warner prior to a start at STL… 😏
— Nikos Leverenz (@nikosleverenz) June 3, 2024
Not surprised.
— Mark Whicker (@MarkWhicker4) June 3, 2024
Clearly, people were not happy with the former quarterback spreading misinformation.
