Dr. Anthony Fauci said ‘divisiveness has failed America in every way’ as it has emerged that he and his family were facing death threats from ‘crazies’ who believe the coronavirus was a deception.
‘We have completely shifted and thrown away scientific facts and evidence,’ Fauci told CBS this morning on Sunday.
‘And a certain part of the country believed the hoax side, the false news side.
The other half longed for clarity, longed for truths, longed for truth.
‘So for better or worse, for one reason or another, I became a symbol that was impractical. as Saint Anthony.
‘You know, it’ s kinda, okay, but that’s not true.
Dr. Anthony Fauci told CBS this Sunday morning that he and his family have received death threats from ‘crazies’
Fauci is seen above moving with his wife, Christine Grady, while two armed federal agents provide security. ‘I’ve had people who have threatened my life because I’m talking about public health measures,’ Fauci said
Fauci was shown a picture by CBS News’ Ted Koppel that read ‘Say no to the prick,’ a message circulated by anti-vaxxers
‘On the other hand, I’ve had people who have threatened my life because I speak public health measures,’ Fauci said.
Fauci, head of the U.S. National Institute on Allergies and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and a prominent member of the White House Coronavirus Action Group, said he was ‘concerned’ that the ‘crazies’ had found the phone numbers of his three daughters, who were harassed.
Fauci, a frequent jogger, had to be accompanied by security agents running in fear that someone might try to harm him.
‘It came to that,’ Fauci said of needing security details on his jogs.
‘I have inspired such an animation that federal representatives, armed federal representatives, must be with me, as it were, all the time.’
Fauci said he is particularly concerned with the angst inflicted on his family.
‘I have to tell you, I’m not afraid of myself, for myself,’ said Fauci.
‘But what worries me most is harassment, persistent harassment, my three daughters.
‘The crazies know, you know, who they are, they know where they live, they know their phone number, they know where they work.
‘It bothers me.’
Fauci is pictured below right with his wife, Christine Grady, and his daughters Jennifer, Megan, and Alison, in the 1990s. Fauci said it is ‘disturbing’ to learn that people have been harassing their daughters at their workplaces
Fauci said he thought he could have died when he was covered in white powder from a letter sent after death threats against him and his family.
The infectious diseases expert, 80, explained how he opened the note found in the mail to be covered in what turned out to be ‘something unusual’.
He told the New York Times in an interview published Sunday: ‘But it was scary … I looked at it deadly.
It had to be one of three things: A hoax. Or anthrax, meaning I had to go to Cyprus for a month. Or if it was ricin, I was dead, so bye-bye. ‘
Fauci was asked about claims made by conspiracy theorists, including Drs. Judy Mikovits, that he contracted the coronavirus.
Mikovits was a former scientist and virologist who appeared in the Plandemic online viral video last spring, and made widely suspected claims.
Fauci says he took ‘no pleasure’ in opposing President Donald Trump, whom he called ‘charismatic’ while acknowledging that they had done ‘very good’. .
‘I did not enjoy correcting obvious misrepresentations in the field of medicine and science,’ Fauci said.
Fauci was asked about the famous images of him putting his hand to his face while Trump was speaking to reporters at a White House briefing.
In those briefings, Trump was criticized for making strange statements about injecting bleach for the treatment of coronavirus and using the drug hydroxycholoroquine, even though scientific studies show that any evidence that it is effective.
Fauci says the U.S. treatment of coronavirus pandemic is the result of a failure on the part of the Trump administration to provide clear guidance to the public.
Fauci has said he thought he may have died when he was covered in white powder from a letter sent after death threats against him and his family. Fauci, deas, Dr. Deborah Birx, left, listen as President Donald Trump speaks on March 20 last year
He cited Trump’s refusal to order mask wear while noting that mitigation measures were widely regarded as a political statement.
‘You can’t have mixed messages,’ Fauci said.
You cannot politicize public health messages. I mean, the idea that you wore a mask or that it didn’t become a political statement?
‘That makes it harder to implement a good public health measure.’
Fauci said his relationship with the Trump administration began to hurt after he publicly opposed the president.
‘That bothered me, I think, his staff, his loyal staff, in some ways even more than it bothered him,’ said Fauci.
‘That’s when things started to go wrong. ‘
Fauci said: ‘So the relationship became a bit dirty. And then, when I saw it in the Oval Office, it would work as if everything was fine. ‘
Days before the election, Trump held a campaign rally in which his supporters urged him to ‘burn Fauci.’
‘Don’t tell anyone but let me wait until you arrive shortly after the election,’ Trump said in response.
Fauci was asked if ‘more consistent leadership’ could save lives during the pandemic.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki talks to Dr. Anthony Fauci at a press conference in the James Brady Newsroom at the White House on Thursday
Dr Fauci, right, said he was ‘liberating’ Thursday with the support of a science-friendly administration since Joe Biden was founded, in the middle. The two men pictured are with VP Kamala Harris
‘Yeah, I believe that,’ replied Fauci.
‘I mean, I think if we had had the public health messages – from the top up down to the people in the trenches – be consistent, things could have been different.
‘Of course, I’m pretty sure they would have been different.’
Fauci, who is now chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden, believes the future is brighter.
‘What we are seeing over the next few months is a lot more of a coordinated, synergistic partnership between the federal government and the states,’ Fauci said.
‘So I think we’ll see a reversal of the idea when the federal government and the states start working together a lot more, instead of “You’re on your own.”
Fauci praised Biden for his approach to the coroanvirus pandemic, saying the new chief was a ‘top priority’.
He said that one of the very refreshing things in one of our first meetings with President Biden and Vice President Harris was that he said, “Maybe that we have obstacles. But you know when that happens what are we gonna do for you? Aren’t we building fingers. We don’t blame people. We are not hiding anything. We are going to be completely transparent and honest and we will try to fix it “. ‘
Fauci was asked about the widespread opposition in this country to scientific opinions.
‘No, there is no vaccine [for it], ‘he said.
‘But I think we may have to keep showing by example that being united is much, much better than being separated.
‘Because separation has failed miserably. I mean, it has failed us in every way. ‘