Dr. Anthony Fauci, the United States' top infectious disease expert, appeared to shrug off some of his harshest critics — even those who threatened him — in a trove of emails obtained by The Washington Post. At one point last April, he told his friend, top Chinese health official George Gao, that "all is well despite some crazy people in the world" after Gao expressed concern that Fauci was "being attacked." The Post also notes that the "emails do not show him directly criticizing Trump," despite their (to put it mildly) conflicting opinions on how to approach the COVID-19 pandemic. At times, it seems, Fauci was actually more uncomfortable with the public adoration he was receiving.
In one email exchange from March 2020, when Fauci was first emerging as a public figure and unwittingly accruing a sizable fan base, a colleague at the National Institutes of Health forwarded Fauci a Post article with the headline "Fauci socks, Fauci doughnuts, Fauci fan art: The coronavirus expert attracts a cult following." In his reply, Fauci called the attention "truly surrealistic." "Hopefully it all stops soon," he wrote, later adding in another note that "it is not at all pleasant, that is for sure." Read more at The Washington Post.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
The Week Unwrapped: Are British rappers the world’s best?Podcast Plus can the Maldives quit smoking? And can whales lead us to immortality?
-
The week’s best photosIn Pictures A leap through the leaves, a typhoon's aftermath, and more
-
Microsoft pursues digital intelligence ‘aligned to human values’ in shift from OpenAIUNDER THE RADAR The iconic tech giant is jumping into the AI game with a bold new initiative designed to place people first in the search for digital intelligence
-
FDA OKs generic abortion pill, riling the rightSpeed Read The drug in question is a generic version of mifepristone, used to carry out two-thirds of US abortions
-
RFK Jr. vaccine panel advises restricting MMRV shotSpeed Read The committee voted to restrict access to a childhood vaccine against chickenpox
-
Texas declares end to measles outbreakSpeed Read The vaccine-preventable disease is still spreading in neighboring states, Mexico and Canada
-
RFK Jr. shuts down mRNA vaccine funding at agencySpeed Read The decision canceled or modified 22 projects, primarily for work on vaccines and therapeutics for respiratory viruses
-
Measles cases surge to 33-year highSpeed Read The infection was declared eliminated from the US in 2000 but has seen a resurgence amid vaccine hesitancy
-
Kennedy's vaccine panel signals skepticism, changeSpeed Read RFK Jr.'s new vaccine advisory board intends to make changes to the decades-old US immunization system
-
Kennedy ousts entire CDC vaccine advisory panelspeed read Health Secretary RFK Jr. is a longtime anti-vaccine activist who has criticized the panel of experts
-
RFK Jr. scraps Covid shots for pregnant women, kidsSpeed Read The Health Secretary announced a policy change without informing CDC officials
