“US House Republicans plan early summer televised public hearing to question Dr Anthony Fauci about federal government’s COVID response. In the middle of a campaign, in which GOP candidates have attempted to make Dr Fauci a wedge issue,” writes CBS News’s Scott MacFarlane, emphasis ours, in a tweet linking to his story at CBSNews.com which also says that “the questioning will happen in the middle of a heated election year [as in the current year, 2024], as some Republicans continue to blister Fauci with criticism over his role in the government’s response to the pandemic.”

“There will be a public hearing eventually. He’ll come back at some point. That will be a lot more theater,” MAGA Congressman Ronny “Dr Feelgood” Jackson told MacFarlane. Jackson of course was not being ironic, he was talking about how the Dems asked “soft-ball questions” in the interview.

MacFarlane closes the article with “[COVID Subcommittee Chair Ohio Republican Congressman Brad] Wenstrup told CBS News the interview with Fauci will be used to help the committee produce its final report on its investigative findings late this year, likely after the 2024 elections. Republicans and Democrats will each release their own report,” making it clear enough that it’s the hype for the report, not the report itself, that’ll help fuel the retired octogenarian’s salience as a “wedge issue.”

Still it’s a little dicey for Republicans to continue vilifying Fauci while simultaneously trying to elect the idiot who heeded the doctor’s supposedly bad advice and failed to fire him.