Dr. Francis Collins, former NIH Director and current “science advisor” to Joe Biden, has long proclaimed himself and Dr. Anthony Fauci as “not political figures.” But newly leaked audio, obtained by The Daily Wire’s Meg Basham, tells a far different story.

The audio was taken on October 26th, 2021 at an event hosted by Christianity Today in conjunction with the Institute of Politics (a leftwing organization founded by David Axelrod). Russell Moore, a favorite among socially left-leaning “evangelicals” like David French and Beth Moore, conducted the interview portion that included Collins.

What followed was the mocking of Christians, the dismissal of individual rights, and false assertions about the legalities involved with vaccine mandates. But rest assured, none of this was political per Collins’ self-description.

“The US government does have the authority to mandate vaccinations if there is an outbreak that is threatening people, because it’s not just about you, it’s about the people you’re going to infect,” Collins claimed, even though science journals were already reporting by that point that vaccinated people were just as likely to spread the then-dominant Delta variant as those who were unvaccinated.

Collins went on to ask rhetorically, “Do [mandates] convince people who otherwise wouldn’t get them?” He answered himself, “Oh yeah, especially if it means losing your job.”

Perhaps Collins should opine less on legal issues because that turned out to be objectively false. As most are aware, the Supreme Court ended up striking down the Biden administration’s federal vaccine mandate. Collins tried to cite Jacobson vs. Massachusetts, a 1905 case that involved state-level mandates, in the interview, again showing his lack of knowledge of the topic. The lack of empathy shown to those losing their jobs over a mandate that was scientifically pointless (everyone spreads COVID) is also striking.

Later, Collins would go on to outright mock Christians who value personal freedom from the government.

Collins said evangelicals, in particular, over-emphasize notions of personal liberty when it comes to mandates, saying they have so “wrapped themselves in the flag and wrapped themselves in this concept of personal freedom, that public health just grates on them.”

“[Evangelicals] have forgotten many times that freedom is not just about rights,” Collins contended. He then employed a mocking caricature of a Southern accent, asking the students, “How many times have you heard, ‘Muh freedom means I got rights’? Well, okay, you also have that other R-word: responsibilities. That’s what freedom is supposed to incorporate.”

I’m not sure what planet this man lives on, but freedom is actually about rights. There can be no freedom without rights, and anything that violates those rights is logically not freedom. The nod to “responsibilities” is a weak, commonly used excuse by government apparatchiks to force their agenda on others. Even tackling Collins’ claim on the merits, what responsibility to others does someone have to get vaccinated if the vaccine does not stop the spread of COVID?

Ironically, Collins and Moore both noted that they were speaking freely at this event because they did not realize it was being recorded. Were they not aware that smartphones are a thing?

Eventually, Collins would go from mocking Christians to outright trashing them.

Arguably the most politically pointed portion of Collins’ remarks came when Moore asked him about the political opinions of his fellow Christians. Collins answered by referencing an Atlantic article by anti-Trump pundit Peter Wehner, another member of his and Moore’s book club, that argued evangelicals have “embraced the worst aspects of our culture and our politics” and that “churches [have] become repositories not of grace but of grievances, places where tribal identities are reinforced, where fears are nurtured, and where aggression and nastiness are sacralized.”

I’m not sure what church Collins attends, but that’s not what my church looks like. Nor do I have any reason to believe that most evangelical churches have embraced “the worst aspects of our culture and politics” becoming “repositories not of grace but of grievances.” Such language has become common among liberal Christians who embrace far-left social ideals, yet they continually provide little proof for their claims.

Of course, the completely “not political” Collins also found time to bash Donald Trump, blaming the former president for the distrust that has been aimed at figures like Anthony Fauci. That’s a ludicrous contention given Fauci’s history of lies and partisanship. Yet, it’s another example of these career bureaucrats having no ability to practice introspection. Their failures are always someone else’s fault. And while Collins was apt to blame COVID deaths on Trump, there is no example I can find of Collins attacking the Biden administration despite the fact that more Americans died under the current president’s watch.

Moving past Collins himself, though, it is incredibly disturbing that a segment of American Christianity (represented here by the major publication Christianity Today) has become so combative toward normal, traditional Christians that they are embracing a pro-fetal tissue, pro-transgender ideologue like Collins. Are there no standards for promotion anymore? These socially liberal Christians love to play the guilt by association game (typically in regards to Trump) with others but obviously don’t apply that standard to themselves.

Astonishingly, when The Daily Wire reached out for comment on the leaked interview involving Collins, Moore’s assistant claimed he couldn’t respond because of scheduling commitments. You can speculate that he simply doesn’t have a good answer.