On the one hand, he is proud of the work he has done in guiding his country through health crises such as the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the Ebola and Zika virus outbreaks and, most notably, the COVID-19 pandemic. But he is concerned about the increasingly divisive politics dominating debates about science, the threats he and his family have faced over the handling of COVID-19 and the rampant spread of misinformation and disinformation, which he says threatens not only public health, but also democracy itself. “There are a lot of things that I’ve experienced with great intensity … for the last five decades now. And as you can imagine, it’s a bittersweet feeling to think about giving it up,” Fauci told As It Happens guest Susan Bonner. . Fauci will step down in December as chief medical adviser to US President Joe Biden, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and head of the NIAID Laboratory of Immunoregulation.
Against the president
He has served under every US president since Ronald Reagan — most of the time, he says, amicably. But his public support for COVID-19 health measures sometimes puts him at odds with Donald Trump, who often downplayed the severity of the virus and they advertise unproven and sometimes dangerous treatments. Early in the pandemic, Fauci was appointed to the White House’s Coronavirus Task Force and was often seen side-by-side with Trump at press conferences. But as time went on, tension grew between them over how to respond to the virus, and the Trump administration sidelined him. In May 2020, Fauci alongside US President Donald Trump as he delivers remarks on the development of a vaccine against the coronavirus. Fauci later fell out of favor with Trump and the pair clashed publicly over the US response to COVID-19. (Drew Anger/Getty Images) However, Fauci has continued to speak out about the importance of physical distancing and masks, often in direct opposition to Trump. “I didn’t like the idea of having to publicly go against and disagree with the president of the United States. But I felt that I had to maintain my own integrity and fulfill my responsibility to the American public — and that’s why I’m responsible to anybody but the American public — I felt I had to tell the truth. And if that truth disagreed with the president, so be it,” he said. “I wasn’t happy about it. It wasn’t a pleasure, which I enjoyed doing, because I have a lot of respect for the office of the president of the United States. But sometimes you just have to deal with what’s true, even though it’s a difficult situation and a difficult decision.” The search for truth, he says, has become more challenging in recent years as “misinformation and distortion of reality and conspiracy theories abound.” “What I find even more disturbing is that so-called withdrawals after a while become normalized so that people don’t push and say, ‘Wait a minute, that’s not true.’ And it’s very, very clear that’s not true,” he said. “When people can say things that are patently untrue and deny reality, that’s one of the steps toward diminishing our democracy.”
Death threats and harassment
His work during COVID-19 also took a personal toll. His wife and three daughters were “constantly harassed in a very horrific way”, he said, alongside “credible” threats against his own life. “That’s definitely not something that makes you feel comfortable. But it’s part of my life, and I’ve chosen this life and I just have to live with it.” But COVID-19 isn’t the only time it’s come under heavy criticism. During his tenure, the US made significant contributions to the treatment of HIV/AIDS. But in the early days of that crisis, activists accused him of inaction that contributed to tens of thousands of deaths. Some of his biggest critics later saw him as a powerful ally, but his role in managing the epidemic of the 1980s remains full. President George W. Bush presents the Medal of Freedom to Fauci for his efforts to advance the understanding and treatment of HIV/AIDS, in Washington on June 19, 2008. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters) Fauci also faced criticism for non-incentive coverage during the early days of COVID-19. Two and a half years later, he admits he made a mistake in not advising he covered up sooner, but stops short of calling it a mistake. At the time, he says, the evidence was less clear and the masks were incomplete. “What I and my colleagues in the public health field did was to take advantage of the data and evidence as it existed at the time,” he said. “If we knew then what we know now. We certainly would have made different recommendations. But part of science is evolving with new information.”
“I think we are in a very good place”
As he prepares to retire from public life, he says he has a lot of work left to do. The pandemic is not over, and vaccination rates in the US, he says, are lagging where they should be. Monkey pox has it too declared a public health emergency in the USA Still, Fauci remains optimistic. “I think we’re in a very good place. I think we’ll very likely be able to control COVID much better in the sense of bringing it down to a level where it doesn’t disrupt our social order like it has for the last two and a half years,” he said. She also says she is “confident” the US will get monkeypox under control, “hopefully in the next couple of months before I leave.” As for what’s next, Fauci says he’s not entirely sure. He says he would like to “inspire a younger generation of scientists and aspiring scientists … to get involved in public service, particularly in public health.” Written by Sheena Goodyear. Interview produced by Katie Geleff.
