Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, invoked the Fifth Amendment during his testimony, saying that Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul’s repeated calls to put him “behind bars” and other “slanderous comments” would make “any reasonable person” come “to the same conclusion.”Hawley hoped to make an example of Fauci during his own questioning, only to have things fall apart when he posted a segment of the hearing on social media with this caption: “Hint for you: no honest person pleads the Fifth.”Hawley may have intended his statement to be a devastating social media truth bomb, but, truth is, it just bombed.That’s because Hawley forgot that his party’s leader, President Donald Trump (in case you forgot), has had his own issues invoking that pesky Fifth Amendment.In fact, Trump invoked the Fifth more than 440 times during a 2022 deposition for the New York attorney general’s fraud investigation into his firm.Perhaps more embarrassing: Back in 2016, Trump told an Iowa rally: “The mob takes the Fifth Amendment. If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?”Not surprisingly, some people on X felt obliged to point out Trump’s own contradictions regarding the Fifth.Hey Josh @HawleyMO — “No honest person pleads the Fifth” huh? Well… Donald Trump pleaded the Fifth over 400 times.Eric Trump 500+.Michael Flynn. Roger Stone. John Eastman. Jeffrey Clark. Charlie Kirk. Kelli Ward. And dozens more in the Trump orbit have plead the… https://t.co/Qjk1lW6vXV— Morgan J. Freeman (@mjfree) July 29, 2026Others mockingly praised the senator for obliquely admitting that, by his own logic, Trump is very dishonest.