When Corona plunged the world into chaos, Anthony Fauci (80) was considered the “voice of reason”. The director of the National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases had served under six presidents. Now he stood next to Donald Trump (74) when he compared Covid-19 with the flu or recommended drinking disinfectants – and tried, together with his colleague Deborah Birx (65), to get the United States on track with regard to Corona.
So Fauci became a hero – and a figure of hate. Donald Trump quickly muted the unwelcome scientist, and Fauci was threatened and insulted. What was Fauci doing and thinking during this time?
Thousands of emails show that now. “Buzzfeed” and the Washington Post received and evaluated them with reference to freedom of information. The correspondence gives an insight into who Fauci was in contact with between January and June 2020, that he sometimes answered inquiries from strangers in detail – and how scary the hype about his figure was for him.
Blick shows five examples:
1. An apology from China
Fauci wrote with the top Chinese scientist George Gao (59). He said in a “Science” interview that the West was making a “big mistake” by not strongly advising people to wear masks.
On March 28th, Gao apologized by email to Fauci, with whom he apparently has a long-standing friendship, for the comment: “That was a phrase from the journalist. I hope you understand that.”
Fauci replied relaxed: “Absolutely. No problem. We’ll get through this together. “
2. Advice for strangers
On February 28, Fauci received an email with the subject “URGENT”. A woman he did not know had apparently found out his well-protected e-mail address and wanted to know: “I understand that Vice President Pence has instructed you not to say anything about the coronavirus in public without permission (…) I want to take a domestic flight TOMORROW . Is that safe? “
Fauci replied the next day: “I have not been silenced (…) and it is safe to fly inland.”
A request from another unknown woman on March 4 (“A modest request”) whether a pneumococcal vaccination would protect against Covid-19, he answered in detail an hour later – at 9.45 p.m., a Wednesday, signed with “Thanks, Tony ».
The recipient could hardly believe her luck with the unexpected answer from the top scientist. She responded just five minutes later with, “Oh my god. (…) To be honest, I never expected you to answer me, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for being so generous! “
3. Celebrity support
In Fauci’s inbox there are also numerous emails from well-known names: For example from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg (37), who sent Fauci an update about his plans for a “Corona Infohub”. Zuckerberg also asked if Facebook could somehow help speed up vaccine testing.
Fauci also thanked the actress Morgan Fairchild (71) personally, who offered him her Twitter account for communication.
“It would be great if you could tweet your many Twitter followers,” he replied to Fairchild on February 27th. “The American public shouldn’t be scared, but they should be prepared to mitigate an outbreak in this country through measures such as social distancing, working from home, temporarily closing schools, and so on.”
4. No Trump criticism
Fauci resisted any temptation to criticize the Trump administration. For example, to a call from a colleague implying that Fauci was being influenced or suppressed by Trump, he replied within three hours: “Your message surprises me. (…) I don’t follow anyone but science and I always, always, give my opinion when it comes to public health. I have repeatedly corrected false statements from others and will continue to do so. “
5. The Fauci hype
An article with the heading “Fauci socks, Fauci donuts, Fauci fan art: the coronavirus expert has cult status” commented Fauci by email to a colleague: “Really surrealistic. Hopefully it all stops again soon. (…) That is not at all pleasant, that much is certain. “
He himself forwarded an article to an acquaintance about his sexualization: “This is going to blow you away. Our society is really totally crazy. “
Empathetic even in the most stressful months
The editors of “Buzzfeed”, who have rummaged through Fauci’s correspondence for six months, draw an almost admiring conclusion about the communication of the top scientist. He is a “polite, reserved and empathetic” communicator: “He interacts politely with the office assistants who help him with his correspondence, and it occupies him when he has to disappoint people.”
When, for example, a colleague and doctor from the White House wrote an email to Fauci and offered him the opportunity to write an opinion article about the coronavirus and “unite the nation”, Fauci asked a colleague: “How can we politely refuse this person ? » (kin)