One-on-one with Amanda Makki: Pinellas candidate on 'rigged' election, firing Fauci, climate change

TAMPA, Fla. - One of the most competitive congressional races in the state is heating up in Pinellas County. Five Republican candidates are fighting for their party's nomination in the 13th U.S. House district, which has been re-drawn to favor Republicans. 

All five candidates agreed to sit down with us for one-on-one interviews. 

Amanda Makki is an attorney and conservative commentator who ran for U.S. House in this district in 2020. 

In our interview with FOX 13 Political Editor Craig Patrick, Makki discussed her concerns with the 2020 election, federal COVID policy, climate change and energy policy. Specifically, she said Dr. Anthony Fauci should be jailed. She also denied the science that shows humans are contributing to climate change. 

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Here are experts from the interview: 

2020 Election "was definitely rigged"

Craig Patrick: "Do you think the 2020 election was rigged and that Trump won the election, instead of Biden, as former President Trump contends?" 

Amanda Makki: "The election was definitely rigged. And I was in Wisconsin as a volunteer Trump attorney to see for myself what happened. And when I was in Wisconsin, I can tell you with certainty the ballots were counted that should not have been counted. 

Craig Patrick: "But there were recounts and there were lawsuits, multiple lawsuits. And state and federal court. There was an AP review of the election. There were reviews by outside activists, conservative activists, the head of the election commission in Wisconsin. So that was a run-of-the-mill election. All of that refutes what you are saying. How are all of them wrong? And you were right." 

Amanda Makki: "Well, I was there. And that’s what we saw." 

Craig Patrick: "They were there too." 

Amanda Makki: "No, they weren't. They weren't there when we were counting the ballots in the municipalities that we were in. I was in Milwaukee and the ballots that were being counted, they were missing conditions, precedent required under state statute." 

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Dr. Anthony Fauci "should be fired," jailed 

Craig Patrick: "You have specifically said on the campaign trail that Dr. Fauci should be locked up. Do you mean that literally, should he go to jail for something and if so what would it be?" 

Amanda Makki: "He should be fired. There are people who have lost their businesses, lost their livelihoods." 

Craig Patrick: "You said he should be jailed. Did you mean that literally?" 

Amanda Makki: "Yes, I do." 

Craig Patrick: "And on what grounds?" 

Amanda Makki: "On the grounds that he is wrong on his information. He has actually worked to put out disinformation information that is wrong to the American people. They have stopped other therapeutics from coming to the market for being able to even be prescribed." 

Craig Patrick: "What specifically are you referring to?" 

Amanda Makki: "Ivermectin."

Craig Patrick: "That's for treating parasites and head lice in animals and in people." 

Amanda Makki: "It has also been used for people who took it for Ivermectin. They took it during COVID when there was not a therapeutic on the market. And some people took it even after there were vaccines on the market." 

Craig Patrick: "And the FDA advises, in fact, urges people not to do that because it can be dangerous and not safe." 

Amanda Makki: "It's not dangerous." 

Craig Patrick: "If they're wrong, then should then the head of the FDA go to jail?" 

Amanda Makki: "To anyone who does not allow people to protect themselves and give themselves the medical liberties that they're entitled to should be, because that's wrong." 

Craig Patrick: "There are going to be a lot of people watching this who say your assertions about the election are wrong and that you should therefore, by that same logic, go to jail. To that you would say what?" 

Amanda Makki: "Well, I was there, I saw what happened. I was there as an attorney." 

Federal COVID Response

Craig Patrick: "Putting Ivermectin aside, we've advanced since then to other treatments that are highly effective. So I assume that you support the continued purchase and distribution, for example, of Paxlovid and vaccine boosters." 

Amanda Makki: "I believe that people should make the decisions that they want to make." 

Craig Patrick: "I understand your position on that. My question is, should the government continue to invest in purchases of vaccine doses in light of the potential for future waves?" 

Amanda Makki: "I think that people should make the best decisions. And if that's vaccines, then it should be vaccines. But what they shouldn't do is stop, for example, hydroxychloroquine or other drugs from being able to monoclonal antibodies. When Biden didn't allow us to have them over the summer and Governor DeSantis said, I'm going to go purchase them myself."

Makki Rejects Science of Climate Change, Paris Agreement

Craig Patrick: "Where do you stand on the issue of climate change? Do you accept the science that shows that human beings have been contributing to the climate crisis that we have and that it has very serious consequences?" 

Amanda Makki: "I don't think that America should be the whipping boy for the rest of the world."

Craig Patrick: "But do you accept the science that shows humans are, in fact, contributing to climate change?" 

Amanda Makki: "I don't." 

Craig Patrick: "You don't. So you don't support there, by extension, extending that… you do not support the Paris Agreement?" 

Amanda Makki: "I don't." 

Craig Patrick: "What is your problem with the Paris Agreement in particular?" 

Amanda Makki: "I don't believe that we should be the whipping boy for the rest of the world. And I think that there are other countries that should bear the brunt of this, not America." 

Craig Patrick: "And how does the Paris Agreement make us that?" 

Amanda Makki: "Well, it holds us responsible and accountable in a much larger degree than the rest of the world. "

Craig Patrick: "Well, these are non-binding targets, and we set what the emission targets are, and they're unenforceable." 

Amanda Makki: "America, we have been. Unfortunately, we have been unfairly targeted, I would say, and I think we're doing a great job of making a difference and other countries aren't. And yet America is always the one that's being pointed out or America's always being the one that's being targeted on this." 

Energy, gas prices, and inflation

Craig Patrick: "If elected to Congress, what legislation would you specifically pursue in order to address the crisis of inflation and the energy crisis that we are facing with respect to high gas prices?" 

Amanda Makki: "Well, I think the most important thing is to go back to being an energy independent country. And I think that what we have done wrong is that we have basically said we're going to we're going to shut down the fossil fuel industry. And that was something that Joe Biden said when he was debating President Trump. Right. So, you know, it's no surprise what they've done. And I think that we need to go back to what we were doing under President Trump, because obviously, I mean, this isn't political. The price of gas was significantly less than it is right now. And we were doing things right. We were allowing for drilling, and now we're not. And those are the things that I think President Biden did wrong." 

Craig Patrick: "Well, President Biden contends there are some 23 million acres that have been approved for drilling that are not being pursued by those who have the permits." 

Amanda Makki: "Yeah, I mean, from what I understand, it's about 50% less acreage than it was before under President Trump. So I think that the more that we can expand on that look, I mean, President Biden is not going to go against what the progressives in his party want. So we need to do more to go back. And he has made some changes, but not enough. He needs to go back to where we were under President Trump, because I believe that that was what was making us energy independent. It was making the costs of gas and diesel a lot cheaper." 

Craig Patrick: "Should we ban petroleum exports from the United States as we did prior to President Obama?" 

Amanda Makki: "We should allow for our country to be energy independent. I'm not worried about the rest of the world. I'm worried about us…. If we, if we need oil, we need oil because right now, people are hurting. People are suffering. You know, I was talking to people in a family in Seminole, and they said, we have $5 to get us through the rest of the week. That's what we have in our savings because we have to put gas in the car with feed ourselves, and we don't have enough. So whatever we can do to make it better for the American people, we need to do that because right now people are suffering right here in Tampa Bay. We have the highest rate of inflation in the country. We have the highest increase in rental and housing prices in the country. We just beat out Phenix. And so what are we doing to make life a little bit better for people in America? A little bit like it was prior to January 20th, 2021. 

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