Episode Introduction
Rand Paul has spent years pressing Anthony Fauci on his handling of COVID-19, and he brought that fight to Breaking Battlegrounds in January 2024. Chuck Warren and Sam Stone talked with the Kentucky senator about Fauci’s record. Next came Maryland Congressman Andy Harris, a physician who spent his medical career at Johns Hopkins. Harris was calling for the school’s chief diversity officer to be fired over a newsletter that labeled certain groups “privileged.”
National Review editor Rich Lowry closed the guest lineup with a conversation about journalism ethics, biased reporting, and the 2024 presidential race. Kiley’s Corner covered the deaths of three Kansas City Chiefs fans, the Karen Read case, and the Harbaugh family’s connection to the number 34.
Quick Answer
Breaking Battlegrounds Podcast 174, from January 2024, features Sen. Rand Paul on Anthony Fauci’s handling of COVID-19 and Rep. Andy Harris on his call to fire Johns Hopkins Medicine’s chief diversity officer over a newsletter listing “privileged” groups. National Review editor Rich Lowry discusses media bias and the presidential race. Kiley’s Corner covers the Chiefs fans’ deaths and the Karen Read case.
Episode Overview
Rand Paul on Fauci. The Kentucky senator and ophthalmologist discusses Anthony Fauci’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, a subject he had pursued in Senate hearings and in a 2023 criminal referral.
Andy Harris on Johns Hopkins. The Maryland congressman, a former Johns Hopkins physician, explains why he called for the dismissal of the institution’s chief diversity officer.
Rich Lowry on the press and the 2024 race. The National Review editor in chief discusses journalism ethics, biased reporting, and the presidential election.
Kiley’s Corner. Kiley covers the three Chiefs fans found dead in a Kansas City backyard, the Karen Read case in Massachusetts, and why the number 34 matters to Jack, John and Jim Harbaugh.
Episode details: Podcast 174 · January 2024 · Runtime 1:04:06 · Hosts Chuck Warren and Sam Stone
About the Guests
About Rand Paul
Rand Paul has represented Kentucky in the U.S. Senate since 2011. He graduated from Duke University School of Medicine and practiced as an ophthalmologist, and he founded the Southern Kentucky Lions Eye Clinic to provide eye care to families who could not afford it. In the 119th Congress, he chairs the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
About Andy Harris
Andy Harris has represented Maryland’s 1st Congressional District since 2011. A physician and Navy Reserve medical officer, he worked at Johns Hopkins before entering politics. He was elected chairman of the House Freedom Caucus in September 2024 and was re-elected in December 2025 to serve through the end of 2026. He also chairs the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture. Harris previously joined Breaking Battlegrounds for a conversation on legal immigration and the federal COVID response.
About Rich Lowry
Rich Lowry is the editor in chief of National Review. William F. Buckley Jr. chose him to lead the magazine in 1997. He began his career as a research assistant for Charles Krauthammer, and he is a regular panelist on KCRW’s Left, Right & Center. His books include Lincoln Unbound, The Case for Nationalism, and the New York Times bestseller Legacy: Paying the Price for the Clinton Years.
Key Topics Discussed
- Fauci and COVID-19: Rand Paul’s critique of the federal pandemic response.
- The Johns Hopkins “privilege” newsletter: Harris’s call to fire the chief diversity officer.
- Journalism ethics and media bias: Lowry on how the press covers politics.
- The 2024 presidential race: Lowry’s read on the campaign as primary voting began.
- The Kansas City Chiefs fans’ deaths: what was known in January 2024.
- The Karen Read case: the Massachusetts murder prosecution that drew national attention.
Rand Paul on Fauci’s Handling of COVID
Few members of Congress have pursued Anthony Fauci as persistently as Paul. In July 2023, he referred Fauci to the Justice Department, citing Fauci’s 2021 Senate testimony denying that the National Institutes of Health funded gain-of-function research in Wuhan. During the Breaking Battlegrounds interview, Paul discussed Fauci’s handling of the pandemic and why he believed the record demanded accountability.
Update (October 2026): President Biden issued Fauci a preemptive pardon before leaving office, covering January 1, 2014 through January 19, 2025. Fauci invoked his Fifth Amendment right more than 100 times when he testified before Paul’s committee on July 29, 2026. On August 6, the committee voted along party lines to hold him in contempt, and Paul sent the referral directly to the Justice Department.
Democrats objected. Sen. Gary Peters, the committee’s top Democrat, questioned whether a referral is valid without a vote of the full Senate. Fauci’s representatives have said he committed no crime.
Andy Harris on the Johns Hopkins Diversity Controversy
The controversy began with a monthly diversity newsletter from Dr. Sherita Hill Golden, chief diversity officer at Johns Hopkins Medicine. It defined privilege as a set of unearned benefits and listed groups it considered privileged, including white people, men, Christians, heterosexuals, and English speakers.
On January 12, 2024, Harris called the memo racist and urged Johns Hopkins to fire Golden immediately. He argued that patients in the listed groups might reasonably question whether they would be treated equally. On the show, he explained why he believed an apology was not enough.
Johns Hopkins said the language contradicted its values, and Golden apologized and retracted it. Her supporters pushed back: two petitions circulated on her behalf, and the Black Faculty and Staff Association later criticized the institution for not standing by her.
Update: Golden stepped down as chief diversity officer in March 2024. Johns Hopkins said the decision was hers. She remained on the faculty as a professor of endocrinology.
Rich Lowry on Media Bias and the 2024 Race
Lowry joined the show as the 2024 primary season was getting underway. He discussed journalism ethics, the problem of biased reporting, and the state of the presidential race. The conversation draws on nearly three decades of leading one of the country’s oldest conservative publications.
Kiley’s Corner: The Chiefs Fans’ Deaths and the Karen Read Case
On January 7, 2024, three friends gathered at a Kansas City home to watch the Chiefs’ final regular-season game. Ricky Johnson, 38, Clayton McGeeney, 36, and David Harrington, 37, were found dead in the backyard two days later. When this episode aired, police said they saw no sign of foul play and were waiting on the cause of death. The families were demanding answers.
Update: The medical examiner determined that all three men died of combined fentanyl and cocaine toxicity. In March 2025, the homeowner, Jordan Willis, and a second man, Ivory Carson, were charged with involuntary manslaughter and drug distribution. Both pleaded not guilty and are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
Kiley also covered the case against Karen Read, who was accused of killing her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe. Her first trial ended in a hung jury in 2024.
Update: On June 18, 2025, a jury at her retrial found Read not guilty of second-degree murder, manslaughter, and leaving the scene. She was convicted only of operating under the influence and sentenced to one year of probation.
The segment ended on a lighter note: what the number 34 means to football coach Jack Harbaugh and his sons, John and Jim.
Key Takeaways From the Conversation
- Paul argued that Fauci’s handling of COVID-19 required accountability. His committee voted to hold Fauci in contempt in August 2026, a step Democrats called unprecedented and legally questionable.
- Harris said an apology from Johns Hopkins’ diversity chief was not enough. She stepped down from the role two months later.
- Lowry examined how media bias shapes political coverage as the 2024 campaign began.
- Both Kiley’s Corner cases eventually produced legal outcomes: criminal charges in Kansas City and an acquittal on the murder charge in Massachusetts.
Related Breaking Battlegrounds Episodes
Andy Harris first discussed the federal COVID response on the show in his episode on legal immigration, which makes it a natural companion to Paul’s segment here. For more on media bias, Ashley Rindsberg explained how Wikipedia shapes political narratives in Podcast 207.
Readers interested in other members of Congress who have appeared on the show can start with the site’s guide to Congress on Breaking Battlegrounds or the full guest directory.
Frequently Asked Questions
What did Rand Paul say about Fauci on Breaking Battlegrounds?
In this January 2024 episode, Sen. Rand Paul discussed Anthony Fauci’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, a subject he’d pursued through Senate hearings and a 2023 criminal referral. In August 2026, Paul’s committee voted along party lines to hold Fauci in contempt after Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment more than 100 times.
What happened to Johns Hopkins’ chief diversity officer?
Dr. Sherita Hill Golden stepped down as chief diversity officer at Johns Hopkins Medicine in March 2024, after backlash over a newsletter that listed groups she described as privileged. Rep. Andy Harris had called for her firing. Hopkins said the decision was hers, and she stayed on the faculty.
How did the three Kansas City Chiefs fans die?
The medical examiner found that Ricky Johnson, Clayton McGeeney and David Harrington died of combined fentanyl and cocaine toxicity after a January 2024 watch party. In March 2025, homeowner Jordan Willis and a second man, Ivory Carson, were charged with involuntary manslaughter and drug distribution. Both pleaded not guilty.
Was Karen Read found guilty?
No, not of murder. On June 18, 2025, a jury at her retrial acquitted Karen Read of second-degree murder, manslaughter and leaving the scene in the death of Boston police officer John O’Keefe. She was convicted only of operating under the influence and sentenced to one year of probation.
Who is Andy Harris?
Andy Harris is a Republican congressman who has represented Maryland’s 1st District since 2011. He’s a physician who worked at Johns Hopkins and served as a Navy Reserve medical officer. He has chaired the House Freedom Caucus since September 2024 and chairs the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture.
Conclusion
Podcast 174 caught three stories at an early stage. Paul’s campaign against Fauci, Harris’s push against Johns Hopkins’ diversity office, and two criminal cases in Kiley’s Corner all developed in ways that were hard to predict in January 2024. The episode shows where each fight stood at the start. Lowry’s discussion of media bias provides context for how all of them were covered.
Related Reads
- Congressman Andy Harris on Legal Immigration and the Federal COVID Response
- Podcast 207: How Wikipedia Launders Propaganda with Ashley Rindsberg
- Members of Congress on Breaking Battlegrounds
- Breaking Battlegrounds Guest Directory
Sources
- Senate Homeland Security Committee: Paul re-refers Fauci to DOJ
- ABC News: Senate committee votes to hold Fauci in contempt (Aug. 6, 2026)
- Office of Rep. Andy Harris: Call to fire Hopkins diversity chief (Jan. 12, 2024)
- CBS News Baltimore: Johns Hopkins diversity officer steps down
- Office of Rep. Andy Harris: Re-elected Freedom Caucus chairman (Dec. 15, 2025)
- CBS News: Two men charged in deaths of three Chiefs fans
- NBC Connecticut: Karen Read verdict
Editorial Note: This article is intended for informational and analytical purposes. Political developments, policies, polling, and public statements can change over time. Readers should consult primary sources and official government information for the latest details.
