Dr. Anthony Fauci, who went from a relatively unknown top government official to one of the most-hated government officials in U.S. history, received a verbal lashing from a 2024 Democratic presidential candidate. 

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made it clear in a recent interview with popular podcaster Lex Fridman that Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), from 1984 to 2022, that he's worse than one can imagine.

"I think he was a genuinely bad human being," RFK Jr. said at one point.

Fridman and RFK Jr. touched on a number of topics during the two-hour interview, and then asked him about his 2021 book, titled, "The Real Anthony Fauci: Bill Gates, Big Pharma, and the Global War on Democracy and Public Health."

RFK Jr on Anthony Fauci:

“I think he was a genuinely bad human being”pic.twitter.com/F03KVSwi00

— Chief Nerd (@TheChiefNerd) July 6, 2023

That's when the Democratic candidate let loose as far as his true feelings on Fauci.

Fridman asked, "What is the biggest positive thing you think Anthony Fauci did for the world? What is good that he has done for the world, especially during this pandemic?"

"You know, I don’t want to sit here and speak uncharitably by saying the guy didn’t do anything, but I can’t think of anything," RFK Jr. said.

He went on to slam Fauci's legacy work in the AIDS program, saying, "In terms of his principal programs, of the AIDS programs and his COVID programs, I think that the harm that he did vastly outweighed the benefits."

Fridman asked if RFK Jr. believes that Fauci is doing "good for the world," a question that the Democratic candidate refused to elaborate on, but still provided his personal feelings as far as how he feels about the former NIAID director.

"I try not to speculate about things that I don’t know about or I can’t prove,” he said. “I cannot tell you what his motivations were. … He’s done a lot of things that I think are really very, very bad things for humanity and very deceptive," RFK Jr. said.

Fridman, playing devil's advocate, asked the Democrat if he believed the difficulties posed by the pandemic would excuse some of Fauci's misgivings. He answered with a firm "no," then added that he believes Fauci is a "genuinely bad human being."

"There were many, many good people in that department over the years. … Many people whose careers [Fauci] destroyed because they were trying to tell the truth. One after the other, the greatest scientists in the history of [the National Institutes of Health] were run out of that agency," RFK Jr. continued.

It's no wonder RFK Jr. has populist appeal and a chance at garnering voters that President Joe Biden could never reach. It'll be fascinating to see how far RFK Jr. takes the fight on his own side.