Fauci boss prompts ‘deep fake’ speculations with bizarre Covid stunt

Outgoing US National Institutes of Health (NIH) director Dr. Francis Collins has raised eyebrows after performing a Covid-19-themed cover of ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’ at a farewell event this week.

After the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) thanked Collins for his service in a town hall on Tuesday, the NIH director pulled out a guitar and microphone and announced he would be performing a “grand finale” for Americans who “have been going through this pandemic and trying to imagine how it’s going to feel when we’re finally past that.”

Collins – who has served as director and as Dr. Anthony Fauci’s boss since 2009 – then broke out into song, singing, “Somewhere past the pandemic, when we’re free. There’s a life I remember, full of activity.”

“Somewhere past the pandemic, masks will come off. No more need for a nose swab every time we cough,” he continued.

Director of the NIH, Dr. Francis Collins… pic.twitter.com/tUKqkK84td

— Libs of Tik Tok (@libsoftiktok) December 14, 2021

Some social media users questioned whether the performance was an AI-generated deep fake video, alerting fact-checkers, which, however, affirmed that the stunt did in fact take place.

It wasn’t the first time that Collins was caught belting out a coronavirus-themed song, having previously recorded himself singing a parody of ‘Puff the Magic Dragon’ titled ‘Poof, coronavirus’.

REPORT: This is Dr. Fauci’s boss, Francis Collins. Director of the NIH. – Sings song about Coronavirus to the tune of ‘Puff the Magic Dragon’. pic.twitter.com/et7BBbdUl3

— New Granada (@NewGranada1979) December 7, 2021

Collins announced in October that he would be stepping down from his role by the end of the year, after serving three US presidents over twelve years – the longest reign of any presidentially-appointed NIH director.

In a statement at the time, Collins said it had been “an incredible privilege to lead this great agency for more than a decade” and claimed the decision “to step down was a difficult one.”

“I fundamentally believe, however, that no single person should serve in the position too long, and that it’s time to bring in a new scientist to lead the NIH into the future,” he declared.