Former US Chief Medical Adviser Dr Anthony Fauci, at the centre of the contentious Senate hearing on his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, repeatedly invoked the , declining to answer more than 100questions.
At the helm was Fauci’s diary. Sen. Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican who accused Fauci of lying about the origins of the coronavirus, drew public attention to the latest proceeding by releasing more than 1,000 pages of a long-running diary that Fauci kept. The entries spanned December 2019 through December 2022.
Quick answers to key questions
What does Anthony Fauci’s diary reveal about the origins of COVID-19?⌵
Fauci’s diary indicates he originally supported the idea that the virus spread from animals to humans, aligning with the World Health Organization’s ‘spillover’ theory. He mentioned the market in Wuhan was not the source but an amplifier of the spread.
Why did Senator Rand Paul release excerpts from Fauci’s diary?⌵
Senator Rand Paul released excerpts to argue that Fauci’s private writings contradict his public statements regarding the origins of COVID-19, suggesting Fauci misled Congress and the public.
How did Fauci respond to accusations of misleading the public about COVID-19?⌵
Fauci’s representatives claimed that the entries in his diary were consistent with his public statements, highlighting that he has always kept an open mind regarding the lab-leak theory since 2021.
What was Fauci’s perspective on his relationship with Donald Trump during the pandemic?⌵
Fauci’s diary reflects a complicated relationship with Trump, noting initial support and concern for public health but later describing tensions over differing views on testing and COVID-19 policies.
Should the debate over COVID-19’s origins focus more on Fauci’s diary or scientific evidence?⌵
The debate should prioritize scientific evidence regarding the origins of COVID-19, as many scientists believe it emerged naturally, despite ongoing political scrutiny related to Fauci’s diary and his role in the pandemic response.
According to the Associated Press, Paul drew on selected excerpts to argue that Fauci’s “private record tells a different story” than what he told the country.
In a White House report titled Fauci has been accused of pushing a “preferred narrative” that the virus originated naturally – a claim which was repeatedly used by public health officials and the media to discredit the lab-leak theory.
Here are some takeaways from the diaries, including quotes that have been edited to remove typos:
COVID origin: Lab leak or natural spillover
Fauci’s journals do not reveal new information about the origin of the pandemic. In agreement with the World Health Organization, he has long contended the most likely scenario is that the virus spread from animals to humans, called the “spillover” theory.
The Kentucky senator has long argued that the virus may have leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China, accusing Fauci and other US officials of misleading Congress and the public about the pandemic’s origins, CBS News reported.
Did Fauci mislead the public?
A fact-check document provided by a representative of Fauci said the diary entries match what he said publicly at the time. He has said since 2021 he kept an “open mind” that COVID could have leaked from a lab, and spoke publicly in early 2020 about asymptomatic transmission and , the very matters Paul says the diary reveals.
Diary entry from January 26, 2020, about whether infections were connected to a market in China where animals were sold:
“It now appears using epi data and genomic data that the first infection was in early December and was not connected to the market. The infections spread among people weeks before the Chinese reported that they were dealing with a new infection and that gave the virus time to establish itself in multigenerational (sustained) spread. Remember, early on the Chinese were saying that there is no human to human transmission and all the original 27 cases were from the market. Now we know the market was not the source, it was the amplifier. Having said that, somewhere the virus jumped from animals to humans.”
Fauci publicly used almost the same wording a few weeks later in an interview with USA Today: “Almost certainly, somewhere, somehow a bat infected an intermediate host who infected a human. What epidemiologists feel is that the market was an amplifier of something that was already going on. So it didn’t necessarily start in the market, but when people congregated in the market they got infected from each other as opposed to all of them getting infected from whatever animal there was in the market.”
Those comments were discussing the very beginning of frantic efforts to figure out the origins of the virus.
In other diary entries, Fauci discussed bringing together government and non-government scientists who wondered about whether it could have been a lab leak, a theory Paul champions.
Today, there isn’t definitive proof, but many scientists believe the virus most likely emerged in nature and jumped from animals to people, and that the market was an early source of spread.
Fauci has long said that he was open to both theories but that there’s more evidence supporting COVID-19’s natural origins, like with its cousin SARS.
Fauci’s frustration with Trump
Fauci’s back-and-forth relationship with President Donald Trump – who initially praised the scientist but eventually derided him – drew lots of press attention. Fauci recorded his perspective of good and bad days in multiple entries.
Diary entry March 11, 2020:
“We went in and presented to the POTUS and he asked good questions, many of them to me. He agreed and was clearly concerned more about the health of the American people than he was about the economy, which he said would recover.”
Diary entry Aug. 4, 2020
Fauci describes a White House meeting with Trump and other administration officials where Trump was angry with multiple participants including him:
“He started raving that we are seeing more cases only because we are doing more testing,” Fauci wrote, continuing that he told the president, “Increased testing does not cause cases. When you increase testing you will of course pick up asymptomatics whom you might otherwise not notice. However, when you have increased percent positives and increased hospitalization, and increased deaths, that means that there are truly more cases.”
Fauci reflected on his media attention
The diary is full of entries that start with a lengthy recounting of each day’s events and then move on to Fauci’s increasing media and celebrity attention.
Diary entry May 13, 2020:
“Had a wonderful Instagram discussion organized by the ONE Campaign with Julia Roberts. She was absolutely fabulous. She embarrassed me somewhat when I sat down in the chair and appeared on the screen through Zoom, she put her hands in front of her mouth and said ‘Oh my God. It’s Dr. Fauci, he is here.’ Then she went on to say that I was her personal hero and how happy she was to have this conversation with me. We discussed COVID-19 and its potential impact on the developing world. I told her that we have a moral responsibility to help and also we have enlightened self-interest in that if the outbreak continues in the developing world, it will always be a threat to the rest of the world. Also, we discussed the importance of including the developing world in the vaccine trials.”
Fauci’s fame
Fauci, 85, mused about his time as the face of the country’s pandemic response and how his coverage in the media helped him discover fame.
Fauci repeatedly described brushing elbows with celebrities and public figures, including Barbara Streisand and Julia Roberts, a report claimed.
He recounts dozens of times that he appeared on national broadcast television and the reporters he would interact with on a weekly basis. Fauci would also attach newspaper clippings that explored his newfound buzz.
He wrote “It is not hyoperbole [sic] to say that today I am the most famous and talked about person in the country and one of the most recognizable peson [sic] in the world” due to the countless front page articles and profiles.
But Fauci also writes about being uncomfortable with the spotlight.
“The ‘swag’ around me is getting really ridiculous. You can but [sic] Fauci T-shirts, mugs, donuts, sweat shirts, candles, pillows, etc. Geeeez!! I do not like this one bit,” he wrote in late March 2020. Fauci also documented security threats to him and his family as his profile rises.
Fauci chronicled Trump’s bout with COVID-19
Fauci recounted a call from Trump’s then-Chief of Staff Mark Meadows when Trump was sick in an entry that used “sxs” for “symptoms” and included details about Trump’s temperature, his oxygen level, which had dropped to worrying levels, and the decision to give the president an antiviral medication.
Diary entry October 4, 2020:
“Mark Meadows called my cell while I was walking on the C & O Canal at around 8:30 AM to ask my advice about when the POTUS could go out publicly again. I mentioned that the CDC guidelines say 10 days from the onset of sxs. His sxs started Thursday, Oct. 1 and so 10 days would be Saturday, Oct. 10. Mark told me that on Friday his temp was 103 and his O2 sat was in the 80s. That triggered the Remdesivir. Today (Sunday) he is up and about in his room and is afebrile. O2 sat is improved and he feels much better. I told Mark to send the POTUS my best wishes.”
(With inputs from the Associated Press)
