Fauci has said little in Congress, but his diary details his thoughts on everything from school closures during the pandemic to his own celebrity.
Fauci takes the stand for the fifth time, Sen. Paul orders lawyer excluded from hearing
Sen. Rand Paul ordered security to remove Dr. Anthony Fauci from a hearing after his lawyer refused to remain in his designated seat.
Dr. Anthony Fauci’s personal diary has been cited in a new attack on the top immunologist who has become the public face of the country’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.
More than 1,500 pages of the 85-year-old former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases’ diary, obtained through subpoena, are now in the public record. The page, released by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), offers insight into Fauci’s thoughts on everything from the origins of the coronavirus and the ensuing public health response to President Donald Trump and Fauci’s own controversial relationships with celebrities.
These span sections from 2001 to 2015 and from January 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic to December 2022. The World Health Organization estimates that COVID-19 has killed more than 7 million people worldwide, including 1.2 million in the United States.
Here are four noteworthy topics in Fauci’s book, with unedited quotes directly from his diary. During a Senate hearing on July 29, Fauci repeatedly invoked his Fifth Amendment right not to be found guilty.
Origin of the new coronavirus infection (COVID-19)
His diary from early 2020 included examining the origins of the novel coronavirus at the time, including the belief of many Republicans that the virus originated in China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology and that American funding helped create the virus. Several studies say there is available evidence to suggest that the virus was naturally transmitted from animals to humans.
On January 3, 2020, he spoke of an “unusual case of pneumonia” in Wuhan. He entered updates on the coronavirus almost daily, including the number of cases and the entry of travelers.
In late January 2020, he described a “conspiracy theory” about the virus that caused the pandemic, how it was manufactured, and whether the manufactured virus was released intentionally or unintentionally. He said: “I propose that we assemble a larger group of qualified evolutionary biologists/virologists under the auspices of the convening body for careful consideration. We have agreed to convene by telephone the next day.”
He said he faced pressure from the right in 2021, especially from Paul. But he said it was “molecularly impossible” that the money the U.S. gave to the Wuhan lab created the virus.
In August, Fauci also addressed House Republicans who continue to push the idea that a lab breach caused COVID-19 and that the National Institutes of Health was involved, which Fauci said was “not based on new information or data.”
He said the accusations stemmed from the “big lie” that Trump won the 2020 election despite losing the popular vote and the electoral college vote, and that Trump was correct that China caused the virus and that Fauci helped create it.
“Then discredit Mr. Fauci and make it appear that Mr. Trump is telling the truth,” he said on Aug. 2, 2021. “The collective effort aimed at re-electing Mr. Trump and absolving him of responsibility for the complete mess his response to COVID-19 is is clear and simple.”
A 2022 study showed evidence that the coronavirus originated in seafood market animals and suggested further research. The World Health Organization released a report in 2025 saying that they had a better understanding of the origins of the virus, but that more information was needed and that China would not provide it.
In 2025, the CIA said it was “likely” that the virus came from a lab rather than from nature, but called that assessment “low confidence.”
school closure
In retrospect, weeks or even months of school closures became a flashpoint in the backlash against public health orders aimed at stopping the spread of COVID-19, even as officials tried to better understand how people infected each other.
In late January 2020, Fauci wrote about school closures by Chinese authorities and began referring to the need for Americans to close schools if the virus entered the country.
On March 15, as cities and states began issuing lockdown orders, Fauci began conversations with former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and California Governor Gavin Newsom about school closures in both Democratic-controlled states. Early in the pandemic, New York City became the epicenter of the outbreak across the United States.
The next day, he said he had developed a 15-day strategy for “more aggressive mitigation” that included school closures. Then in April, he cited a conversation with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican who wanted to keep schools open, but said DeSantis later called him and said he was assessing the situation.
Later, he said he had made it clear to the president’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows, that he never said not to reopen schools, but that the vaccine would be ready when schools reopened. Still, Fauci said in early July that “Trump wants to reopen schools at all costs. It’s clear he doesn’t care about the safety of our children.”
In August, he acknowledged that the default position should be to reopen schools, citing the “psychological impact on children,” children’s dependence on school breakfasts and lunches, and the impact on working families. But he said the health, safety and welfare of children and teachers should come first and extend that to their families as well.
“I said one size does not fit all and decisions should be based on the level of infection in the community,” he said.
President Trump expresses opinion on invoking Fauci’s Fifth Amendment at hearing
President Trump weighed in on Anthony Fauci’s invocation of the Fifth Amendment as Senate Republicans pursue the origins of the coronavirus and the response to the pandemic.
Trump is a “truly perplexing person” and “a very strange man,” Fauci wrote.
Fauci made several disparaging comments during Trump’s first term and afterward. At various points, Fauci said Trump was “out of control,” “really confused,” and “a very strange guy.”
Fauci wrote on May 22, 2020, “President Trump is spiraling out of control as he pushes to open the country and restore the economy by Election Day. He is getting desperate. This all depends on his re-election.”
In the summer, he wrote about his relationship with Trump, and although the president said he was “okay” with Fauci in person and told reporters they had a good relationship, he later retweeted a post attacking Fauci.
“He is a very strange man,” Fauci wrote in his diary on July 28, 2020.
Days before the 2020 election, Fauci said on Oct. 15, “As we get closer to the election and we move into cooler weather, it’s inevitable that we’ll see an increase in cases and a spike. Trump is spewing nonsense on the campaign trail. He’s really out of control. It’s really embarrassing.”
How did Fauci deal with his fame?
Fauci retired in 2022 after more than 40 years, serving seven U.S. presidents while serving as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Fauci has been a mainstay in research on topics such as HIV/AIDS, but was unknown to most Americans until he began appearing regularly on news conferences and interviews on major cable news networks during the pandemic.
In his diary, he highlighted some important news about himself. His entries have provided fodder for critics of his self-promotion.
“The press about me is still hot and heavy,” he wrote on April 7, 2020. A month later, on May 21, 2020, he called a front-page article in the Washington Post “very flattering.”
“My national and international fame situation is explosive and truly unimaginable. It is no exaggeration to say that today I am the most famous and talked about person in this country and one of the most famous people in the world.”
Fauci became a household name during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic as Americans sought reliable information to protect themselves and others. His fame has made him the center of criticism of the public health response, including in retrospect years later.
Contributors: Joey Garrison and Erin Mansfield
