It was around 6.45pm on Saturday, February 1, 2020, when Dr. Anthony Fauci deleted an email that made him the most controversial figure in his time as one of America’s best-known scientists.
“Thank you Kristian. Talk to you soon on the phone, ”he wrote.
Although the answer was simple, the issue was explosive. Kristian Andersen, professor of immunology at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, explained to Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, that the virus that causes the Covid-19 epidemic had been shown to be used in the lab.
Andersen’s message, released this week as part of 3,000 pages Fauci’s e-mails since the outbreak helped to reinforce the idea that the disease had first emerged from the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Andersen later challenged that notion.
An email exchange has confirmed that Fauci has publicly reduced the possibility of a lab exit as he discusses with other scientists his advantages.
Now the so-called “American doctor” is facing a response to resignation and public criticism from the right because he insisted that the plague may have originated in wildlife, not in a Chinese lab.
“There are a lot of questions that need to be answered by Dr Fauci,” said Donald Trump, a former president whom Fauci served as an adviser, in an email. Trump supporters, many of whom accuse Fauci of exaggerating the severity of the epidemic, have gone too far. Josh Hawley, a Republican senator from Missouri, on Friday urged Fauci to step down.
Fauci himself admits he was worried. Not about blowback, though, but what they say about America. “It worries me what it says about this country,” he told the Financial Times.
“Emails show someone who is constantly monitoring how things are changing. But people are choosing emails to distort reality.”
The 80-year-old Fauci is one of America’s best-known and best-known doctors.
Having advised every president since Ronald Reagan, he became known as a scientist in his field of HIV practice in the 1980s when he was one of the first doctors to show people about new rare diseases common among homosexuals. He was honored by the gay rights activists for helping to change the way medical trials are conducted so that more people can access life-saving care.
“Tony changed the way clinical trials deal with HIV,” said Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota and a former Fauci colleague. “He’s a great product, and he’s a natural leader, and he knows how to do things.”
Fauci played a key role in the American response to the Sars, Mers and Ebola outbreaks of 2014-16, when the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was fired in response.
“There was a time when the CDC was being unfairly persecuted,” said Tom Frieden, then director of the CDC. “Most of the people in the situation would have stood up or just kept quiet, but Tony did the same. He stood us in and he stood up for us, in public. He’s great.”
Fauci has become one of the most notable people in response to US Covid. He has become famous for his frequent appearances on television in which he discusses clearly and in New York clearly the dangers of the epidemic.
His willingness to contradict Trump’s claims, such as saying that Covid-19 is like the flu, made him a fan base.
Floral posters in Washington, DC and elsewhere announce: “Thank you, Dr. Fauci.” His approval since February was 60% – just above Joe Biden, the president who serves as his chief medical adviser.
Some, however, believe he was insulting Trump for political reasons. “Paul Fauci is a good man and a great scientist, but unfortunately he made himself a politician, and that made him lose trust in others.”
Fauci denies this: “Sometimes I have to argue [Trump] he said because what he said was not correct. For this reason it seems that there are extremists who believe that I am an enemy. I’m not an enemy, just trying to know the truth. ”
It is his reputation as an honest person who is now in danger.
He is accused of contributing to dangerous research at the Wuhan lab through a $ 600,000 grant from the US National Institutes of Health for bat coronaviruses. And his opponents say his insistence that the disease may have originated in wildlife is not just evidence but that he wants to protect his organization.
Fauci adauza FT he continues to believe that the “greatest potential” is that the Sars-Cov-2 virus is transmitted to humans from animals.
But they also acknowledge that some of the work done at Wuhan’s laboratory using NIH funds could violate security regulations – even if they say their responsibility belongs to the EcoHealth Alliance, the non-governmental organization working on the project.
“We need to go back and see this,” he added, alleging that some of the coronavirus activity was illegal, almost identical to what happens in a dentist’s office. “But this is something that should be overseen by the EcoHealth Alliance.”
The EcoHealth Alliance did not respond to requests for comment.
Fauci continues to respond to emails late into the night, from fellow experts, journalists and people. “I’m sleeping four hours here,” he said.
His colleagues are worried that he is facing a daunting task and the temporary threat from Trump supporters, he may decide to leave the party soon. But he insists that it will not happen.
“I never thought of quitting,” he said. “I will have enough when we fight the plague and deal with it.”
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