The “Fauci Of South Carolina” Lies About Threats During Senate Hearing (Video)

Dr. Edward Simmer has become an infamous name in the Palmetto State this past year leading up to his failed Senate nomination hearing and aptly dubbed as the “Fauci of South Carolina.”

While Governor McMaster has positioned Dr. Simmer to dictate the health of South Carolinians since 2021, Dr. Simmer doesn’t have the qualifications for the job. Not only is Simmer a military psychiatrist, before DHEC he served as the deputy director of the TRICARE Health Plan at the Defense Health Agency, an insurance company in Virginia.

Dr. Simmer lead South Carolina’s public health response to COVID-19 which included dictating who could and couldn’t wear mask depending on their vaccine status, led the charge on school mask mandates, rejecting “misinformation” on COVID-19 vaccines, and insuring that South Carolina was in lockstep with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Check out a video compilation of Dr. Simmer’s contradicting statements on vaccines and masking through the year of 2021.

After leading DHEC from 2021-2024, Governor McMaster nominated Simmer to be the Director of the SC Department of Public Health. Due to the tremendous backlash from citizens across the state, the SC Senate Medical Affairs Committee did not confirm Simmer in the nomination hearing and officially asked McMaster to nominate someone more qualified. McMaster’s response? To double down and let Simmer continue to serve as interim director instead of listening to the pleas of his legislators and constituents.

Simmer Claims Bomb Threat Amid Senate Hearing

During Dr. Simmer’s Senate committee nomination hearing, Simmer claimed that he had a been threatened and his car had been vandalized with a fake bomb attached to it. Simmer stated that his wife was so terrified of “those that wish us harm” that she stayed back and would not attend Simmer’s hearing.

Simmer also claimed he had a “very negative encounter” with someone in the hallway, as much as I tried to get away.”

That someone was Evan Mulch. Here was Evan’s response:

On the second day of the hearing, mainstream media asked Simmer what were the most serious threats he received. Simmer began to describe “negative letters” that said “you need to be held accountable, we’re going to hurt you” and that his car was vandalized that “was a very clear attempt to make something look like a bomb.” “It wasn’t but it was frightening,” Simmer noted.

Evan Mulch piped up from the back after this statement asking if Simmer reported any of this to the police to which Simmer did not reply. Members of the media and Simmer’s staff did not skip a beat as they turned to Mulch and told him to stop talking because “you’re not the news staff” to which he replied, “we are all the media these days.”

When asked to describe what this “bomb” looked like, Simmer stated that his opponents “crumpled up the license plate, tied it to the license plate…it had two little wires that went down to like a battery pack, then that went into a box.”

Beaufort Police Departments Deny Record of Any Reports From Simmer

Since the mainstream media did not see a need to follow up on Simmer’s serious allegations against South Carolinians that voiced concern over his appointment (i.e. his constituents), I decided to do my own digging.

Simmer and his wife reside in Beaufort, South Carolina. To cover my bases, I FOIA’d both the Beaufort County Police Department and the Beaufort City Police Department for any police reports, incident reports, or documents related to Edward Simmer between January 2024 and March 27, 2025. I quickly heard back from both departments with the same message: we have no files during those dates related to Edward Simmer.

Why Didn’t Simmer Report the Bomb Threat to Police?

Edward Simmer used the vast majority of his time during both of his hearings bashing South Carolinians that had been critical of his previous actions when leading DHEC. It was clear that Simmer had a distain for the South Carolinians he chooses to serve.

“It troubles me and I take issue with individuals that deliberately and knowingly spreading lies or misinformation for political gain or social media clicks at the potential harm to others.” Later, Simmer stated, “There are folks out there who are not doing the right thing and we need to fight them.”

At one point, Simmer read the social media post of one of the concerned Senators sitting on the Medical Affairs committee right in front of him. Simmer stated that “this legislator” is “clearly undermining the governor’s nomination of me for this post.” During questioning, Senator Fernandez called Simmer out for not naming him and dismissing Fernandez’s constituents concern, which Simmer weakly backtracked on.

Obviously the critics rattled Simmer as he obsessively brought it up during his two-day hearing and consistently raised his voice out of perceived anger. Instead of focusing on his record, Simmer acted like a spoiled child.

If Simmer was so concerned about these perceived ‘threats’ why didn’t he report them to the police?

Why is McMaster Running Cover for Simmer?

Governor McMaster ran constant cover for Simmer between the day McMaster nominated Simmer in November 2024 until after the hearing in March and April 2025. According to McMaster, Simmer is “eminently qualified” and consistently fought for Simmer through articles from the mainstream media and online.

After the Senate Medical Affairs Committee voted against nominating Simmer on April 3rd, 2025 in a vote of 12-5, McMaster took to social media to defend his beloved psychiatrist. On every post McMaster made positively about Simmer, a flood of South Carolinians quickly pushed back on his decision and was even ratioed at one point by yours truly:

McMaster Refuses to Listen to His Senators & Voters

Governor Henry McMaster has made it clear over the past year that he does not care what South Carolinians want or need, instead he has chosen unpopular friends and expects the voters to fall in line.

One member of the Senate Medical Affairs Committee, Senator Josh Kimbrell, published a letter he sent to McMaster following Simmer’s hearing, pleading McMaster to nominate someone more suitable for the Director of the Public Health Department.

Senator Tom Corbin of Greenville even sent McMaster the resume of an actual physician that has treated South Carolinians his entire career, including fighting for his patients rights to medical freedom during the COVID pandemic.

Gov. McMaster has refused to respond to either compromise the SC Senate has offered and has made it clear through his actions that he plans to let Simmer finish his career as interim Director of Public Health without nominating a more qualified leader.

If McMaster does not nominate another individual, Simmer will stay interim director until the next governor is elected in 2026. The new governor will then decide if they will allow Simmer to stay as interim director or they will nominate their own pick. Something to keep in mind when you head to the polls in 2026…

Simmer Makes First Appearance As Interim Director Pushing Vaccines

On August 19th, Simmer made his first public appearance as interim DPH director following his failed nomination to be confirmed. The South Carolina Department of Public Health posted a livestream on Facebook where Dr. Simmer spoke about how “vaccines save lives,” “vaccines are safe and effective,” this time pushing the measles vaccinations.

As if knowing what the public’s reaction will be, Simmer attempts to jump in front of his now guaranteed criticisms by stating “no matter what you might see on social media or on some podcast, the vaccines do not cause autism.”

As has been the case all year, the comments were FLOODED by comments criticizing Simmer, his background, his leadership, his agenda, and his failed nomination hearing. After watching the lackluster livestream, it doesn’t appear that Simmer even believes what he says anymore.

Article posted with permission from Alaina Moore

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