President Biden's pardon protects Anthony Fauci, a longtime target of MAGA critics, from charges related to the contentious debate over origins of Covid or other issues.

After the pardons were announced, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky — both Republicans — posted to X claiming that issuing pardons to Fauci, Milley and others implied they were guilty of a crime, as did other right-leaning accounts on the platform.