Correcting Fauci’s Revisionist History on School Closures

Dr. Anthony Fauci appeared on ABC over the weekend to plead “not guilty” to having contributed to the extended closure of K–12 schools during the Covid-19 pandemic. According to Fauci, he had “nothing to do” with ensuring that American kids spent months at home, suffering irreversible learning loss while their counterparts in Europe returned to the classroom without incident.

Unfortunately for Fauci, there’s a long trail of clips and quotes to convict him of not just the original offense but perjury as well.

Of course, no one could blame Fauci for, in March 2020, recommending school closures as a mitigation strategy; little was known about the virus at that time, so precautions had to be taken. But then in the summer of 2020, after the evidence showed that children were largely safe from the virus, Fauci said that, while there should be a general attempt to reopen schools that fall, he had misgivings.

“However, and I underline however, having said that [schools should open], what is paramount is the safety and the welfare of the children and their teachers,” said Fauci, before submitting that they should open only if you have “a very, very low level of infection.”