Editors’ Notes
We noticed that the right was not only more likely to cover the Fauci diaries, but in general sources on the right appeared more interested in what they see as accountability for those harmed by the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. The right saw the shutting down of business and schools as an example of an action that caused lasting harm that our society is still grappling with. In contrast, the left appeared tentative in revisiting the COVID-19 era.
Sources on the left agreed that some mistakes were made but tend to give more grace to leaders at the time because the left’s sympathies lie more with the chronically ill, disabled, and elderly at risk of death due to COVID-19. Both sides care about safety and health, but one focused on protecting an at-risk minority, while the other was concerned about the ramifications for the majority.
News about the Anthony Fauci
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) shared over 1,000 pages of former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Director Anthony Fauci’s diaries from the era of the COVID-19 pandemic. The diaries revealed some contradictions between what Fauci believed about the disease and the public guidance he gave.
On Wednesday he was called to testify in front of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, led by Paul. Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment during the hearings, refusing to answer any questions.
Analysis and Opinions about Fauci
Opinions from the right focused on Fauci’s contradictions and his ego. Opinions from the left noted his ego, but also his broader legacy with decades working in public health, including during the AIDS epidemic. They were more likely to frame him as a complicated man that others were trying to reduce to a single dimension.
Peter Navarro wrote in the Washington Times (Lean Right), “History has vindicated my warning far more than Dr. Fauci’s one-dimensional certainty. Here is the bottom line: The man who demanded that America “follow the science” was often following politics, panic, ego and institutional self-protection. I did not trust him then. His own diary proves America should not trust him now.”
An Atlantic (Left) profile read, “Fauci was a master of the system: He knew how to acquire and maintain scientific power; he had the ear of both academics and politicians. He eagerly courted attention, while maintaining that he was ‘completely nonpolitical,’…ever since President Trump retook office in 2025, his administration has engaged in a systematic effort to obliterate Fauci’s legacy…If Fauci’s legacy now seems fragile, that may be partly due to how he built it, Jeanne Marrazzo, the most recent NIAID director, told me. Many of the researchers in top leadership positions at NIAID were Fauci’s longtime colleagues; the institute’s priorities were heavily shaped by his personal research goals. Fauci ‘owned an empire,’ she said, and when you own an empire, ‘it lives and dies with you.’”
A Washington Examiner (Lean Right) column said, “It appears that members of the legacy press really loved having access to Dr. Anthony Fauci, and that Fauci is a patent narcissist…Fauci also revealed how fake those broadcast and print journalists are. CNN’s Jake Tapper, who is as condescending as anyone in this business in lecturing others about being unbiased and truthful, repeatedly crossed the line from journalism to activism with Fauci…Unsurprisingly, there has been a total blackout on ABC and CNN over coverage of the Fauci diaries.”
A New York Times Opinion (Left) guest essay said, “Senate hearings are always theatrical. Even still, Wednesday morning’s Senate committee hearing to interrogate Dr. Anthony Fauci on, among other things, the origins of Covid-19 was a shocking performance: Dr. Fauci barely spoke, while everyone else spent some three hours projecting their emotions onto him. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, the committee chair, has cast himself as a contemporary Joe McCarthy intent on ferreting out the truth about one man’s supposed crimes against his country…show trials are bad for democracy and do nothing to get us closer to either truth or consensus.”
