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Included in the diary recently released by Dr. Anthony Fauci offers an unfiltered view of what the country’s top infectious disease expert really thought about the politicians, television personalities and celebrities who filled his circle during the COVID-19 crisis.
Released by Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Rand Paul, R-Ky., the diary chronicles Fauci’s daily role during the COVID-19 crisis through meetings, phone calls and personal observations. The release comes days before Fauci is scheduled to testify before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee after being subpoenaed by Paul.
The entries include everyone from President Donald Trump to Julia Roberts, Steph Curry, Larry Ellison and Hunter Biden, offering a rare personal look at the people who crossed Fauci’s path during the violence of COVID-19.
Early filings show a warm working relationship between Fauci and Trump. Fauci wrote that Trump had repeatedly directed questions at him during White House meetings, called him “the smartest person in the world,” told him, “We’re counting on you,” and later seemed “surprised” by him as Fauci’s national profile grew.
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President Donald Trump and Dr. Anthony Fauci was seen during a White House Coronavirus Task Force briefing. Fauci’s newly released diary reveals a warm working relationship that crumbled as the pandemic progressed. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Fauci’s relationship with White House chief of staff Mark Meadows deteriorated throughout the pandemic. Fauci wrote that Meadows threatened to block him from television, repeatedly pressured him to tone down his public messages and, in one entry, recounted Meadows “screaming” about his public comments.
Fauci, however, has repeatedly described then-White House communications director Alyssa Farah as his ally in internal battles over media exposure. In another entry in May 2020, she wrote that Farah admitted that White House staff had “delayed me,” said the situation had gotten “out of hand” and promised to start canceling her TV requests again.
Not everyone who works in communications has received Fauci’s praise. In a July 2, 2020 entry, Fauci called then-HHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Michael Caputo a “man full of sh–,” writing that Caputo publicly said he supported his television appearances while privately blocking them.
Television journalists were also recurring figures in Fauci’s diary. CNN anchor Jake Tapper makes frequent appearances, with Fauci recording phone calls, text exchanges and dinners at the Tappers’ Washington home.
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CNN anchor Jake Tapper appears frequently in Dr. Anthony Fauci’s recently released book on COVID-19, documenting phone calls, text exchanges and dinners at Tapper’s home in Washington. (Bryan Bedder/Various Images/Getty)
Fauci wrote that Tapper secretly checked to make sure the CNN interview did not cause problems with the White House. When The Atlantic’s Peter Nicholas suggested Fauci was “humiliated” by Tapper’s canceled interview, Fauci responded: “F— you, Peter.”
After Fauci’s heated exchange with Ohio attorney Jim Jordan, Fauci wrote that CNN’s Dana Bash texted him, telling him he was “a better man” and relaying that fellow CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer joked that no one would have blamed Fauci if he had told Jordan to “go away.”
The next day, Fauci wrote that Bash texted her again, this time pointing to a Vanity Fair article mocking Jordan’s performance in the trial.
The diary also contains colorful asides about billionaire Oracle founder Larry Ellison, whom Fauci described as a “little cannon” while discussing the White House’s efforts to use Oracle technology during the pandemic.
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Fauci served as a senior medical advisor to President Donald Trump during the COVID-19 crisis before continuing in the role under President Joe Biden. (Wina McNamee/Getty Images)
Outside of politicians and White House aides, Fauci’s diary sometimes reads like a Hollywood guest list. Actress Julia Roberts hosted Fauci on Instagram Live, sending him flowers and later presenting him with an award, while Vogue editor Anna Wintour, comedian Trevor Noah, NBA star Steph Curry, actors Sean Penn and Matt Damon, and rapper Lil Wayne also appeared as Fauci documented his growing celebrity amid the pandemic.
The diary closes with another unexpected cameo. At the 2022 Kennedy Center Honors, Fauci wrote that she kissed Hunter Biden, who joked the internet would “explode” if someone took a picture of them together because they were both “under attack from the far right GOP.”
