Dr. Anthony Fauci spoke out on Wednesday to whine that America’s centuries-long tradition of individualism and freedom is making the COVID-19 pandemic worse in this country.

Fauci was asked by The Washington Post if the increase in cases in the United States is the fault of America’s individualist tradition or President Donald Trump’s refusal to demand national mandates. He responded by saying that the “independent spirit in the United States of people not wanting to comply with public health measures has certainly hurt us a bit.”

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Fauci went on to complain that there are people that treat coronavirus like a “hoax.”

“There are people in various parts of the country who still believe that [coronavirus] is a hoax, that it’s fake — even when in their own state the hospitals have been overrun with patients in the hospital beds and in the intensive care unit,” Fauci said.

Not stopping there, Fauci then pleaded with the American people not to gather for Christmas this year, saying that he and his wife will not even be hosting their adult children for the holidays.

“They are not going to come home … That’s painful. We don’t like that,” he said. “But that’s just one of the things you’re going to have to accept as we go through this unprecedented challenging time.”

Instead of spending this Christmas together, Fauci urged Americans and their families to focus on the importance of future Christmases.

“You try to explain: you’re going to have many more Christmases ahead of you,” he said. “You’ve enjoyed many more Christmases before. Maybe this is a time to just say, ‘This is an unusual situation, it’s not going to last forever.'”

Fauci added that it is “highly likely” the country “will be back to normal by next Christmas.”

“So make the choice and keep yourself and your family healthy so that you’ll have many more Christmases ahead of you,” he said. “That’s the way I would try to reason with them.”