Anthony Fauci never seriously considered resigning: “Someone has to have the courage to tell the truth. “ In an interview published on Sunday January 24 by the New York Times, the stainless director of the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases (NIAD) looks back on the difficult year he spent advising Donald Trump in the management of the Covid-19 pandemic.
At 80 years old, Doctor Fauci was, however, used to exercising. At the head of NIAD since 1984, he advised presidents on the management of various epidemics – HIV, influenza A, Ebola or Zika… – since Ronald Reagan and was a non-partisan expert, respected by all. This pandemic and its management by the Trump presidency have yet unsettled, even tested, he reports to the American daily.
Death threats
In Donald Trump’s campaign rallies, supporters chanted “Fire Fauci! “(” Virez Fauci! “)… Without being stopped by the president, who encouraged them with a smile. It is because, since the start of the pandemic, the speeches of the immunologist annoy Donald Trump, who, anxious not to despair Wall Street, then prefers to affirm that the epidemic will “Disappear as if by magic”.
From March 28, 2020, the immunologist is placed under the protection of the secret services. He receives death threats from supporters of Donald Trump, who believe he “Jeopardizes the chances of re-election of the president”. His children receive these threats “Directly on their phone, or at home. How do these assholes [de harceleurs] were they able to obtain this information? “, annoys Mr. Fauci.
More subtle pressure is also exerted directly by Donald Trump. After several not very optimistic words, Anthony Fauci receives a call from the American president asking him ” Why [il n’est] no more positive? “, To” adopt a positive attitude “, relates the immunologist. And to continue:
“They were trying to downplay the real issues and chatting gleefully that everything was fine. To which I always added: “Minute, guys! This is serious business. ” There was a recurring – and friendly – joke that I was the service killjoy. “
Yes “Friendly” be it, this “Joke” is not without consequences. The contradiction carried by Mr. Fauci is not to the taste of the entourage of the president, who gradually reduces his opportunities to speak, even undertakes a work of undermining his credibility. Quickly, the press service of the White House decides to authorize or – more often – to prohibit its interventions in the media.
On July 12, the White House press service sent reporters a detailed list of Anthony Fauci’s sentences that are believed to be false – “It was absurd because they were all true”, comments the immunologist. The 14th of July, one of Donald Trump’s close advisers, economist Peter Navarro writes an editorial in USA Today saying that Mr. Fauci is wrong about most of the things he says. Difficult for the person concerned to defend himself. The man is naturally discreet, very attached to the neutrality of his function – “I don’t like to face people”, he explains modestly.
Presidential denial
If those close to Donald Trump show very clearly mistrust of the immunologist, the latter explains that he did not have a violent exchange with the President of the United States. Anthony Fauci regrets, however, Donald Trump’s failure to listen to expert opinions, the president preferring the opinions of his friends:
“What really worried me was that he was getting comments from people who called him – I don’t know who – people he knew from the business world, who said, ‘I have heard of this drug, isn’t it great? ” (…) And I tried to calmly explain to him that in order to know if something works, you have to do an appropriate clinical trial (…) and you submit it to a peer review. And he was like, “No, no, no, this stuff really works.” “
Despite the various advice given publicly by Trump – injecting bleach, taking hydroxychloroquine … -, which Anthony Fauci was forced to contradict, the latter never seriously thought about resigning . “The idea [que les personnes au pouvoir] know that absurdities could not be said without putting a stop to it seemed important to me ”, he explains.
Is it time for Dr. Anthony Fauci to retire? “I want to continue to [occuper mon poste] Until I see us crush this epidemic, until we return to normal life, he concludes. And even after that, I left things unfinished. There remains the HIV epidemic, to which I have devoted most of my professional life. I want to continue this work. “
The change of presidency will in any case facilitate his work, he wants to believe. On January 21, during his first press conference under the Biden administration, Mr. Fauci described the “Liberating feeling” to be able again “Come here and talk about what you know: evidence, science”.
