Dr. Anthony Fauci has been in the public eye since the initial stage of the coronavirus pandemic, coming across as an intelligent, calm individual, who rarely losses his cool. Not living up to his reputation, the White House coronavirus advisor pushed back against Republican Sen. Rand Paul's claim that New York has defeated the still raging coronavirus pandemic because the city achieved herd immunity.

The usually calm Fauci told Republican lawmaker Paul is "not listening." He went on to tell Paul that he was wrong to make the claim, and pointed out that he had been wrong before in some of his earlier public comments about how herd immunity works. Accusing Paul of misconstructing the information, Fauci told Paul that he has done that repeatedly in the past.

Moreover, America's top infectious diseases doctor also seemed to single out Paul for criticism over remarks about the coronavirus, which has claimed over 200,000 lives in the country as of this week. He told Paul that if he believes 22 percent is herd immunity, then he is alone in that.

He made this remark during the hearing, referring to the number of New Yorkers thought have had contracted the virus. This discussion took place at a Senate Health Committee hearing where Fauci and others are testifying about the coronavirus pandemic, The Hill reported.

Paul, who has criticized the idea of lockdown to prevent the spread of the deadly virus while raising questions about their effectiveness, asked Fauci if was sure about supporting lockdowns, considering statistics in other countries. He went on to suggest that shutting down bars, movie theaters, restricting restaurant capacity, and other mitigation measures had no impact because the New York tri-state region had the highest number of COVID-19 related death rates in America.

He suggested that before that they do not simply agree to authoritarian mandates, without first making the nanny state prove their hypothesis. He then noted that the Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York still witnessed the highest death rates in the world.

Admitting that New York was hit badly, and was able to bring its positivity down to about 1 percent because New Yorkers followed recommendations such as wearing masks, social distancing, and self-isolation. Paul then came up with the theory that New Yorkers have developed immunity and are no longer at risk, and Fauci seemed irritated and said the senator was mistaken.

"I challenge that, senator," he said. He accused Paul of paying no heed to what the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) director said, that in New York the infection rate is about 22 percent. Fauci then went on to tell Paul that if he thinks 22 percent is herd immunity, then he is alone in that.