Political polarization, disinformation, and the popularity of conspiracy theories took another casualty. This time Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in the United States.
Before the election of Donald Trump, and above all, the beginning of the epidemic, Drs Fauci was a sure reference and advisor to many administrations, both Republican and Democratic. Under Obama, we referred to the acronym PTFOTV when it came time to explain to Americans the dangers of the Ebola virus. “Put Tony Fossey on TV.” Let Tony explain the situation to the Americans.
While few people know Fauci outside political and scientific circles, the severity of the pandemic has helped make the immunologist a public figure. Just as it was here with Horacio Arruda, we could see and hear him daily.
More accustomed to the shadows than the spotlight, he had to advise the president and elected officials while avoiding playing a political game. In 2020-2021, this balance is more dangerous than ever. Already in the crossfire of some Republicans for daring to contradict Donald Trump’s claims, he is now the target of a vicious campaign to discredit him.
The American media paid a lot of attention to this this week, because various publications revealed the contents of several emails from Fauci obtained under the Access to Information Act. As Politico pointed out, this morning, Republicans and Conservatives rushed to this manna, put everything back in order and anarchy, and quickly accused the expert of all evil. The hashtags #FauciLeaks and #FireFauci testify to the ferocity of the attacks.
For his part, Donald Trump did not fail to point out that he was right not to listen to this advisor and that he was wrong from the start. Citing emails out of context and selecting clips that served their purpose, the attackers were so dishonest that platforms had to remove several messages after checking the authenticity of the news.
If, as yet, there is no evidence to prove that the eminent scholar is the obnoxious his critics portray, it is nevertheless possible to criticize him constructively and force him to better explain certain options or certain statements. It is indeed easy to explain some of the inconsistencies with a little hindsight.
Just like Ds Arruda is here, his brushes got tangled around wearing the mask. In June 2021, while we know the virus better and there is no shortage of surgical masks, the clumsiness seems terrible to us, but remember the context of February and March 2020…
While many questions remain unanswered at the moment regarding the origin of the virus and the US funding provided to the Wuhan laboratory, which is now suspected to be the origin of the epidemic, I can only deplore the vicious attacks and misinformation surrounding the work. Anthony Fauci. Not only are we working to destroy the work of a lifetime, a life devoted to protecting the American population, but the entire scientific community that has been discredited.
I regret that our neighbors and some of us have come to this point in our criticism of the elites. In addition to repeated assaults on democratic institutions, the undermining of scholars amazes me. Those same scientists whose arduous efforts now allow us to imagine a more natural summer and autumn.
Like all of you, I hope we can finally shed light on the origin of COVID-19. While I have little hope that current investigations will allow us to confirm this without a doubt, one should at least rule out conspiratorial theses such as those reported by Fox News that Fauci helped create the virus.
Tell me, in the face of a pandemic, would you hand your life over to Trump or Fauci?
