There are many people who no longer want to hear anything more about COVID. It was a terrible time, not least because it hit us so suddenly and unexpectedly. The public generally responded by complying with the new rules – even those that seemed absurd – and by placing their trust in the institutions that imposed them.
Remembering it all
However, it is essential to remember this period, to reassess what was said by the various ‘experts’ and what was done by the various politicians in office, especially now that we have new data – both hilarious and shocking – emerging from the publication of Anthony Fauci’s diaries, the man who at that time was the focus of public admiration and media trust. Among his numerous honours, in 2020 he received the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (OMRI), the nation’s highest honour.
It is essential not to forget this, so that we are prepared for the next occasion when, inevitably, a new emergency – whether real or fabricated – will be used to create yet another panic and yet another excuse for controls and extortion.
There is a famous quote attributed to the American President Abraham Lincoln: “You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time”. In short, sooner or later the truth will come out. Fortunately, we have had determined and competent individuals who, for years, have presented us with facts, figures and allegations against Fauci, foremost among them Senator Rand Paul, who, a few days ago, succeeded in securing authorisation for the publication of around a thousand pages of Fauci’s personal diaries.
Serious allegations
For years, Fauci has been accused of serious misconduct and of lying during the COVID emergency, fuelling unjustified alarmism for the sake of fame and career advancement. In particular, he was accused of lying to Congress about whether the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) had funded gain-of-function research via the EcoHealth Alliance at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China. He was accused of advising against the use of face masks in early 2020, only to subsequently recommend their use for everyone, including young people and children. He admitted that the two-metre ‘safety distance’ that had been imposed had no scientific basis. And, after allocating substantial funds to the Chinese Institute of Virology in Wuhan, he was accused of protecting the institute’s reputation by repeatedly denying any possible Chinese responsibility for the global pandemic.
The evidence from the diaries
Fauci has been protected by the institutions, the media and many politicians. He even received a pre-emptive, complete and unconditional pardon from former President Joe Biden in January 2025. A truly unique case.
But now there are no more excuses: Fauci’s diaries reveal a grotesque obsession with fame and power, and expose major contradictions between what he wrote and what he said, between the figures he admitted to in writing and the (extremely alarmist) ones he bandied about during interviews, and between what he claimed to know in his diaries and the recommendations he made to those in power, who, unfortunately, listened to him.
Fauci: the driving force behind the scaremongering
Anthony Fauci was at the centre of the COVID storm. President Trump appointed Fauci to the White House Coronavirus Task Force in early 2020 to help manage the federal response to the pandemic. The two frequently clashed in public in 2020 over public health messages, mask guidelines and medical treatments for COVID.
Fauci was the main proponent of COVID alarmism. This might be forgiven if one interprets his advice as precautionary – that is, as a call to do more than necessary to save more lives. In reality, his diaries show that he was aware of the true COVID mortality rates (0.2%, 0.3%), yet, drawing on his authority and expertise, he cited figures ten times higher – 2% to 2.5% – thereby fuelling panic.
Here is what Fauci wrote in his diary in February 2020:
“ Tom Frieden rang me this morning and we discussed various aspects of the epidemic. He and I are on the same wavelength in thinking that this behaves like a severe flu in terms of its transmissibility and that the denominator is much higher than 34,867 (above), making the case fatality rate (CFR) closer to 0.2–0.3 per cent rather than 2.0 per cent. ” .
But in March, in a television interview, he stated that “the mortality rate for the coronavirus is around two to two and a half per cent”. Also in March, in his testimony before the US Congress, he said “The seasonal flu we face every year has a mortality rate of 0.1 per cent. The overall COVID mortality rate, if you look at all the data, including the data from China, is around 3 per cent“.
Measuring mortality
To understand these figures, one must understand what the mortality rate is. If one million people (N) are infected and one thousand (M) die, the mortality rate is M/N, which is 0.1 per cent. However, with a huge number of people infected with COVID without realising it, showing no symptoms and therefore not properly counted, the calculation can produce false results – namely, it underestimates the denominator N and, consequently, overestimates the mortality rate. Furthermore, we know that many people died with COVID, but not from COVID. Again, the calculation can overestimate the mortality rate. And by a considerable margin.
Did Dr Fauci know about this potential massive overestimation? Of course he did, and indeed we find it written in his diaries today. But he chose to spread alarm; he chose to multiply the mortality rate by 10 or 20, for the sake of fame and power, as is also confirmed in the diaries, where we find expressions such as:
“The situation regarding my national and international fame is explosive and truly unimaginable. It is no exaggeration to say that today I am the most famous and talked-about person in the country and one of the most recognisable in the world”.
Closures and lockdowns
Fauci has insisted that he is not responsible for the strict lockdown policies adopted by many states and localities during the pandemic. But here is what we find written in his diaries instead:
“I spoke to Bill de Blasio [Mayor of New York] and convinced him, based on what I was saying publicly and on our conversation this evening, to close New York’s schools (he had already decided to do so based on what I was saying on TV). I then told him he should close the bars and restaurants. He said he would follow my recommendation”.
And also:
“I had a similar phone call with Ann O’Leary, the chief of staff to California’s Governor Gavin Newsom. Ann said that, based on my television appearances today and yesterday, the Governor had decided to close schools in California, as well as bars and restaurants”.
We know the consequences. The lockdowns have restricted and often completely disrupted healthcare, increased the use of illegal drugs, led to a rise in suicides, caused enormous psychological harm – such as gender dysphoria, particularly among the youngest – and increased child abuse and self-harm among young people. It has been estimated that at least a third of deaths during the pandemic are attributable to the lockdowns and not to COVID. In short, there is no evidence that lockdowns saved lives in any statistically measurable way, but there is ample evidence to the contrary. Indeed, states that did not allow themselves to be swept up in the panic and obsession with lockdowns and face masks (Dakota, Florida, and even Sweden) did not experience higher mortality rates than other areas.
The case of Florida is particularly telling, as it was the only one of the major US states to seek to uphold the constitutional freedoms of its population. For several months, business in the United States was hampered by stringent protective measures, many of which were absurd and pointless. In many states, business meetings, travel and conferences were not permitted; consequently, Florida, by offering full freedom of movement, found itself attracting and hosting all these professional and social activities. The COVID mortality rate in Florida remained average, despite having an older and more vulnerable population, as it is a state that attracts many pensioners due to its mild climate and a less oppressive tax system.
Evidence and Deception
It was clear from the outset that preventative measures should have been confined to the most vulnerable sections of the population, rather than ruining the lives of young people, destroying millions of small businesses and causing the accumulation of enormous debts that still weigh heavily on the budgets of various states today.
Some realised this deception immediately. In October 2020, a small but distinguished group of scientists signed the Great Barrington Declaration, in which they wrote:
“As infectious disease epidemiologists and public health scientists, we are deeply concerned about the harmful effects on physical and mental health caused by the policies adopted by governments regarding COVID-19, and we recommend an approach we call ‘Focused Protection’ (Focused Protection)”.
Fauci was one of the leading critics of this Declaration; he refused any scientific dialogue with the scientists who had signed it and even took part in a campaign to undermine their scientific careers.
Today, one of the most prominent signatories of the Declaration – Dr Jay Bhattacharya – is now the new director of the prestigious National Institutes of Health (NIH). Fauci, on the other hand, is under investigation by the Senate and is in serious trouble. He chose to defend himself by invoking the Fifth Amendment 111 times, thereby refusing to answer senators’ questions. Many regard this act as an admission of guilt.
Public trust
Many medical experts, scientists and public health officials have wondered why public trust in them has declined so drastically since the start of the COVID pandemic. More than anyone else, Anthony Fauci has fuelled the public’s suspicions about the honesty of public health officials — and we are still paying the price for his duplicity.
