Anthony Fauci Finally Speaks
By Cory Franklin
September 18th, 2026
A rough estimate of the devastation caused by the COVID pandemic from 2020-2024 in the U. S. includes 1.2 million COVID deaths, four million excess deaths overall, and more than 12 trillion dollars in economic costs. This is above and beyond the social and emotional damage suffered by the public and the tremendous harm done to our children.
Given current knowledge, it is reasonable to assume that every caregiver in the public health community would be looking inward and reevaluating what might be done differently in the future. That would include, among other things, reassessing lockdowns and school closings, streamlining vaccine distribution, concentrating on indoor air quality and promoting rapid home testing. Yet at least one prominent public health official has not signed on to any reconsideration. Anthony Fauci.
Fauci broke his self-imposed silence after a disastrous July appearance before Congress in a two-hour September interview with healthcare academic Lawrence Gostin at Georgetown, as (I’ve boldfaced and italicized some of Fauci’s comments from the full interview.) Regarding the public health response to COVID, he recently said, somewhat defiantly, “I’m not sure we would change much.”
Gostin, an especially amicable interviewer, lobbed softballs and deemed Fauci a “national treasure.” A somewhat curious assessment, considering the dubious assertions Fauci made during the interview about his role in the pandemic, some of which are directly contradicted by the historical record: Rather than describing his actions in a forthright manner, Fauci’s standard defense was sarcasm:
On his overall management of the pandemic: “I’m the bad guy. I created the virus. I shut the schools. You know, I did everything, I did everything. Throw away the key.”
For a guy who sounds like he is looking to evade responsibility , it’s worth noting that his name appeared in 2,378 articles in the New York Times between January 1, 2020, and January 1, 2023 – two-and-a-half times more than the combined mentions of all the CDC directors during the same period. And writing in his diary, he called himself “the most famous and talked about person in the country and one of the most recognizable persons in the world.”
His dumbfounding take on lockdowns: “We didn’t lock anything down, were you locked in your house? I wasn’t locked in my house. In China, you were locked in your house.”
Anthony Fauci may not have been locked in his house but he definitely pushed for lockdowns. In a July 13, 2020, story from Reuters headlined, “Fauci Blames Virus Surge on U.S. Not Shutting Down Completely”, the first paragraph read: “Top infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci on Monday ascribed the surge in U.S. coronavirus cases to the country’s failure to shut down completely, then a rush to reopen too soon, and urged a commitment to guidelines to snuff out the disease. ‘We did not shut down entirely and that’s the reason why when we went up.’”
This turned out to be a misreading of the data as well as a look into his strategy throughout the pandemic, which was to completely suppress the viral spread (“snuff out”), rather than mitigate its effects. At any cost to the public.
His reference to China is likewise disingenuous. When the pandemic began, he sent one of his assistants, Clifford Lane, to China. Lane witnessed the severe lockdown the Chinese put in effect and returned believing the U.S. might have to employ the same extreme measures to suppress the viral spread. Fauci praised Lane’s assessment and pushed for the U.S. to implement many of those measures, which this country did. Ultimately, suppressing the spread of the virus by lockdown did not work in either country.
“I closed the schools,”
Once again, Fauci’s sarcastic take on a serious issue that was devastating to millions of students nationwide – socially, emotionally and academically – and continues to resonate today. This was part of his all-purpose excuse that he was not in charge of school closings – that was the responsibility of local politicians, school administrators and health officials. Nor did he ruffle teacher unions by mentioning the role many of them played in urging school closures.
As if those state and local bureaucrats didn’t base their school closing decisions on his pronouncements. On March 12, 2020, Fauci publicly called for a shutdown of schools nationally. To his credit, at that point case numbers were high and rising, and he took responsibility.
But the story continued. On April 11, 2020, an article in the New York Times reported: “The mayor said the decision to close schools was made on Friday evening, after he spoke with Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Dr. Fauci supported the decision, Mr. [Bill] de Blasio said.” (Fauci’s diary confirms this.)
Schools in New York City were not simply closed till the end of that academic year. Those schools and many across the country did not reopen in the fall for the 2020-2021 academic year, while in Europe and certain parts of the U.S., many schools opened after the initial two months. New York City schools and many others did not completely reopen for full in-person instruction until the 2021-2022 academic year began – a full 18 months of closure.
While Fauci did not directly order closures, his advice was consistently that schools could open when certain metrics were reached. Those metrics were arbitrary, vague and confusing.
This allowed politicians, bureaucrats and teachers unions to default to the status quo, which was school closure. Nowhere is Fauci ever quoted as urging schools to open when localities achieved specific guidelines.
Related to this is his self-description as a man of science: “I’m a scientist, and I go by data.” Yet, in the case of school closures, he neglected extensive data from Europe, and some from the U.S., which showed that children were not significant transmitters of the virus and that they had an extremely low morbidity and mortality from COVID; schools were basically not dangerous. The data were available for more than a year – and “the scientist who went by data” never referred to it.
In which situations did Anthony Fauci actually go by data during COVID? He admitted in The New York Times that he deliberately misled the public on the figures needed for herd immunity (which never materialized.) He essentially made up “the six-foot separation” rule. (Ironically, there was data on this from the 1940s, which he seemed unaware of, but that data pertained to tuberculosis, not coronavirus, anyway.)
He never explained that the data on masking was complicated and often contradictory. Regarding the comparatively high death rate in the U.S., he said “something clearly went wrong” (not his responsibility, of course), but failed to say it was likely the result of an older, more obese population. Once again, the data were out there for anyone to see.
Anthony Fauci is in love with his own mythology; his diary is a clear indication of that. So, it would be naïve to expect any sort of apologia. But, especially in light of the current interview, is he really the “national treasure” as his interviewer claimed? At least he didn’t take the Fifth.
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Dr. Cory Franklin
Cory Franklin, physician and writer, is a frequent contributor to johnkassnews.com. Director of Medical Intensive Care at Cook County (Illinois) Hospital for 25 years, before retiring he wrote over 80 medical articles, chapters, abstracts, and correspondences in books and professional journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine and JAMA. In 1999, he was awarded the Shubin-Weil Award, one of only fifty people ever honored as a national role model for the practice and teaching of intensive care medicine.
Since retirement, Dr. Franklin has been a contributor to the Chicago Tribune op-ed page. His work has been published in the New York Times, New York Post, Washington Post, Chicago Sun-Times and excerpted in the New York Review of Books. Internationally, his work has appeared internationally in Spiked, The Guardian and The Jerusalem Post. For nine years he hosted a weekly audio podcast, Rememberingthepassed, which discusses the obituaries of notable people who have died recently. His 2015 book “Cook County ICU: 30 Years Of Unforgettable Patients and Odd Cases” was a medical history best-seller. In 2024, he co-authored The COVID Diaries: Anatomy of a Contagion As it Happened.
In 1993, he worked as a technical advisor to Harrison Ford and was a role model for the physician character Ford played in the film, The Fugitive.
Comments 30
A lot of us knew this was a Government hoax. When did we ever got free shots folks? So many people from Covid and are still sick by getting those shots. Population growth is what they wanted to destroy by giving free shots to young and old. How sad people bought into that hoax.
Ms. Edwards- I mostly disagree with
your comments on this site and here is another glaring example-
– Covid was not a government hoax. It was indeed a worldwide pandemic that killed millions.
– The vaccine did far more good than harm.
I’m not sure where you get your information, but your opinions here border on delusional.
I don’t know where YOU got your facts. The jab caused more harm than good. I personally know of THREE deaths that were a DIRECT RESULT of the jab and also a very healthy 23 yr old young lady that had a MASSIVE heart attack three days after the jab and has permanent heart damage. The fact that you tested positive for Covid after you clearly died from cancer, it was marked as a Covid death highlights the inaccuracy if the data ! Fauci did more harm than good and too bad he’s so old. I’d love to see him locked up for life but i don’t want my tax dollars to support his ass.
Mr. Christianson- I agree with your complaint about the overcounting of Covid deaths.
But your claim that the vaccine did more harm than good is ludicrous. Your anecdotal evidence of three deaths following the Covid vaccination, as any competent scientist would say, does not prove that the vaccination was the cause. On the other hand, there is massive evidence that the Covid vaccination actually did save millions of lives worldwide. And yes, it is likely that SOME people were harmed by the vaccine. As is true with ALL medical interventions there is a cost/ benefit trade-off.
For example, coronary bypass surgery saves a lot of lives- it also kills some patients. But the benefits clearly outweigh the costs, which is also true of the Covid vaccines.
In fact, I’ll even go so far is to say that many people, as misguided as you, died needlessly.
I agree. I guess you had to be there up close and personal as I was for the first 15 months of the pandemic, and see the havoc Covid brought forth and the overwhelmed ICUs at both my hospital (VA Hines) as well as our university affiliate hospital, Loyola. And yes most of those critically ill were either elderly or obese or diabetic or all three. And then with the dissemination of the vaccine (from Pfizer and Moderna) the gradual but dramatic decrease in ICU Covid admissions. So yeah. I’ll believe my “lyin’ eyes.”
And if such skepticism regarding vaccines as now seems to exist, existed then in the 1950s – when I was an eight year old “Polio Pioneer” – the Cutter Incident would have killed one of America’s greatest contributions to humanity: the Salk Vaccine. And then when naturally occurring Polio in the US was eliminated by 2000, the only cause of Polio was Vaccine Derived from the Sabin OPV. That’s why we are back to the Salk vaccine in the US. My point, as is yours: there is no free lunch. It’s weighing benefits vs risks … always.
Thank you Dr. Franklin, a genuine physician.
“I’m a scientist…” Fauci is like Bill Nye(no science degree) claiming to be a scientist, oh I am sorry, a “science communicator.” From their so called “experts,” to their scamming of billions in government grants for bogus social programs, to their “male” womyn, the woke left has given new meaning to the word fraud.
Oh, thank you, Dr Fauci… now go on Fox!
Fauci started believing his own press deserves every bit of scrutiny and criticism that comes his way. Ne is a huge reason why our “trusted institutions” are no longer trusted.
Thank you, Dr. Franklin.
I had planned for several years to retire from education in June, 2020 – and DID. But as early as
April 2020, when speaking with my physician, he asked about what I was thinking about Covid. I had two responses:
1. it’s a fast-mutating virus. Just like influenza, we’ll be getting annual boosters.
2. they closed schools to protect their older and sedentary teacher pool. We’re the ones that get sicker, and we are caring for even more aged parents who get the sickest. The kids are fine: they’re just the excuse.
Sadly, I was absolutely proven correct.
The kids were the excuse to keep schools open in October 2019 (when the CTU went on strike), then five months later they wrapped themselves in “the kids” banner to keep schools closed and ignored their previous warnings (kids won’t have meals, domestic/sexual abuse will go unreported, learning loss, etc.).
It works both ways! And yet, the kids were the ones who paid for it.
The CTU also claimed they were fighting white supremacy by keeping schools open AND closed. What a bunch of clowns.
Who came up with wear your mask into restaurant but remove at table and everything ok? Just one of the many “suggestions” from the government. Kids paid the ultimate price for this. If Chicago Teachers Union had their way they would still be “teaching” remotely.
Thank you Dr. Franklin for a clear assessment of Dr. Fauci.
Dr. Fauci and Dr. Frankenstein have a lot in common. Both of them deranged, but one big difference. Dr. Frankenstein’s adventures caused no harm since it was movie fiction. Dr. Fauci, on the other hand, cause irreparable harm to millions of people. He states no one was locked in their home, yet he said over and over “You must shelter place” and “If you need to go out, you must keep a distance of 6 feet”. And then the Vaccines. You absolutely had to get the vaccines to be safe. But if something went wrong, you could not bring a lawsuit. And more people died, and are still suffering and dying today.
The underlying question of importance is why we were working with CCCP (that stands for Chinky Charlie Commie Party) in weaponizing a virus. That is what gain of function means. We signed a treaty promising not to do biological research for warfare purposes. But it didn’t disallow others doing it for us. Where is the investigation of this.
Scientists did not speak out on some of the absurdities coming out of our govt. Why? Did we shut down schools during polio scourge of 1950s? No!
I believe what happened was this virus escaped the lab and the scientists had no idea how it would act because it hadn’t been studied enough. They panicked. As someone who has a MS in molecular biology and virology none of what they were saying made any sense. But only a few brave scientists spoke out and were condemned.
Our govt sadly cannot be trusted no matter who or what party are in office,
Finally, AI is as big a threat as biological warfare.
Helpful article, Dr. Franklin. I’d attach this summary: The vaccine did not vaccinate. The masks were useless. Prosecuting church-goers while keeping liquor stores open was perverse science. The school shutdowns were entirely teachers union-based, not science-based. The ban on gain-of-function research that Fauci sidestepped by outsourcing his project to China was made by Obama, something Fauci’s defenders on the left never acknowledged. The old Tony Accardo Fifth Amendment defense made by a supposed scientific authority should have been Fauci’s last interview.
Mr. Bittinger- Some of what you say is true, but you are wrong about masks, especially during periods when there are few other tools (e.g. vaccines) to contain a pandemic.
Covid was at least partially transmitted through the air.
Therefore the main benefit of a mask is to protect OTHERS FROM YOU- NOT YOU FROM OTHERS.
They can be useful for the same reason that a surgeon wears a mask during an operation- to protect the patient from droplets of saliva and other fluids emanating from the surgeon.
Also, you erroneously imply that the vaccines were not helpful, when in fact they did far more good than harm and probably saved millions of lives worldwide.
The Warp Speed development of the
Covid vaccine was one of the few laudable accomplishments during the first Trump administration.
Bob:
I agree. Masks were useful – especially when it was shown that the virus spread via the airborne route. But the utility of masking – as Dr Franklin said – was complicated. In fact such utility depended upon the PF (protection factor of the mask) and time to infective dose when exposed to the virus. So depending upon a combination of variables NO mask – even the “gold standard” N95 (referred to as a “respirator” in the medical literature ) was “perfect.” But Dr. Fauci never explained these important distinctions. Isn’t that the job of an “expert?” The result of his self-righteous “I am science” “just trust me” attitude resulted in doubt, cynicism amongst the American populace and mistrust of ALL expert assertions.
https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/commentary-what-can-masks-do-part-1-science-behind-covid-19-protection
The vaccine was in my opinion one of the greatest medical accomplishments of which I witnessed during my 40 year medical career: from bench to jab in under 10months. And as you said: one of DT’s major accomplishments. The problem was that it became obvious early on that while the vaccine was life saving for folks like me – the elderly – it was not likely beneficial for otherwise healthy children and male adolescents.
Well said David. I see that people want to argue about the efficacy of masks. While I think it’s reasonable to say masks helped a little bit in cases where people were symptomatic (ie coughing/sneezing), no orders such as mask wearing should have been mandatory. I know some people had severe reactions to the corona virus and some died. But I honestly think that cyclical corona virus/flu outbreaks have been happening our entire lifetimes (ie swine flu, bird flu, H1N1) and will continue no matter whether we wear masks, stand six feet apart, lockdown, get mRNA treatments, or any other measure.
Contrition is universally accepted and goes a long way towards reconciling past mistakes. If only Fauci would’ve thought about an “after” scenario where America learns from its obvious mistakes. Contrition on Fauci’s part would’ve greased the wheels for it(the blunders)to be owned by America. But now he gets to own it. Fauci’s calculus I’m guessing was that he didn’t take that job to be a scapegoat for the virus. It was a fork in the road and he made a choice. Sometimes people in high places have to take responsibility and be the one that says “You know, my career and ‘legacy'(it is true big shot bananas DO actually think about these things) are hinging on this but I have to admit mistakes were made in the heat of battle that we thought were right and now we know with hindsight we were wrong, and it’s important for future generations to know all the facts”
But he’s not doing that. He’s chosen to paint people looking for answers as hostile liars. He made his choice at the fork in the road.
The ease with which a frightened gullible public could be stampeded into the sheep closures for their “protection” was not lost on those paying closest attention- malignant actors especially. The Leftists reaped mailed ballots for 2020 and the statists here and China learned the mass formation psychosis harvest potential. AI and data center hysteria will serve the next iteration.
Excellent Dr.Franklin.
Excellent article, Doctor…thank you!
I have ceased watching the news networks and cable channels and only watch the Weather channel with the sound muted.
Both the news media and weather are nothing more than Fear and Drama.
And the outbreak of Coronavirus was perfect for the news…mass hysteria, much in part, caused by your Chicago stations 2,5,7,9 and 32, (I have not lived in the Windy City since June of 1995) so please forgive me if the numeric channels I’ve listed are incorrect.
Fauci and Trump are much alike in that their egos are out of control.
Fauci demonstrated to every school student that it is ok to fabricate, and rely on only “selected” data that fits the narrative.
A pox be upon the medical clown that masqueraded as an expert.
Sad!
Ugh. Just seeing that creep’s face is nauseating.
Thinking about how quickly people followed, then defended, the “science” of a man who openly enjoyed baseball games with no restrictions, politicians who enjoyed family gatherings and blow-out parties, while demanding the “little people” dance to their masked isolation protocols is equally disgusting.
Baltasar Gracián’s 1647 statement holds true: “Every blockhead is thoroughly persuaded that he is in the right, and every one who is all too firmly persuaded is a blockhead, and the more erroneous is his judgment the greater is the tenacity with which he holds it.”
Is it too late for people to wake up to the fallacy they believe?
I’m not sure just how good a scientist Fauci actually is or is not. One thing that is clear, however, is his exceptional ability to thrive as an extraordinarily successful bureaucrat. No one in history comes close! This is not only demonstrated by his longevity in place but by the way he handled the AID’s crisis of the ‘80’s. That crises gave him the formula to handle COVID. It is not science, it is bureaucracy. He is not the problem, we are.
We had to learn a lot at the beginning but the greatest sin was not iterating our approach with the most current and relevant data that was clearly out there. One of my favorite quotes is from Keynes who said “When the facts change, I change my mind”. Fauci himself soiled his legacy by not following the facts.
Dr. Franklin writes: ‘And writing in his diary, he (Dr Fauci) called himself “the most famous and talked about person in the country and one of the most recognizable persons in the world.” ‘
Well that was true.
And the juxtaposition of citing in his diary the daily mortality figures at the same time him which famous celebrity called him that particular day heaping praise and admiration upon him is truly bizarre.
Thanks Doc.
Fauci solidified for me my feeling that most government involvement in my life is not trustworthy.
Big pharma can get lost.
Mr. Olszewski- Your comment about big pharma is overgeneralized if not offensive. I personally spent most of my career at Big Pharma (Abbott Laboratories and Abbvie). I can assure you that the vast majority of chemists, biologist, engineers, (and even top management) are good people trying their best to discover and develop useful (often lifesaving) drugs.
You should thank God you were not born “pre- Big Pharma” which would basically be anytime prior to the 20th century.
Sure, like any large corporation, profits are sometimes overemphasized. And “Direct to Patient” advertising should be eliminated IMO.
But the net effect of having Big Pharma is extremely positive –
– Would you like to undergo major surgery without modern day anesthesia?
– How’d you like to fight bacterial pneumonia or sepsis without antibiotics?
– Try managing type I diabetes without insulin.
– If, you or someone in your family suffers a heart attack or stroke, their life could be saved by clot -busting drugs.
– Statin drugs can have side effects but they are a lifesaver for many. Same with BP meds.
Good luck treating these conditions with herbs!
You should think before you blab.
Bob: you neglected the incredible advances in oncology. Many folks with cancers now, that were previously universally fatal when I started my career in 1981, are now alive thanks to “Big Pharma.” And the same goes with HIV: from an assured fatal disease to a manageable long term chronic one.
As far as “Direct to Patient” advertisement there is a little matter of the First amendment that stands in the way of abolishment. Yeah. I know. That pesky little First amendment – the bane of everyone who has the “right” opinion.
Bruce- Yes, important additions. I originally intended to mention HIV drugs but got cut off by the new(er) 200 word limit.
And OK, the first amendment probably protects Pharma “direct to patient” advertising, but there must be some way to limit it?
When most of us were kids, cigarette ads were rampant all over television and radio. How was that ended?
Cigarette TV ads were banned before the landmark 1980 Supreme Court Central Hudson Gas and Electric Corp. v. Public Service Commission, whereby the Court declared that commercial speech was protected under the First Amendment. The degree of protection is determined by the four part Central Hudson test that tobacco companies are likely to fail, but pharmaceutical companies are not likely to do so.