GOP IN CONSPIRACY MELTDOWN OVER FAUCI'S EMAILS, Republican duplicity on display for all to see

  

 

It was all too predictable. From the moment I saw the headline “3200 of Dr. Fauci’s emails released” I knew this was coming. Right-wing conspiracy theorists were going to pore through the emails looking for anything they could take out of context and make bold claims of proof of Fauci’s crimes. With so much material to work with, how could they not find something they could contort to fit their narrative. But is there anything to these claims? This article is for everyone who’s seen the Facebook posts from their MAGA loving uncle but haven’t had time to get into it.

What’s really surprising about these claims is how little substance there is to them. Frequently right-wing media has had to rehashed old accusations in much of their coverage after getting past the headlines. There are however a few emails in this collection that commentators have seized on that are worth a closer look.

The Big Mask Lie

One of the gotcha emails was from 5 February 2020 when Dr. Fauci responded to an inquiry about masks saying, “masks are really for infected people to prevent them from spreading infection to people who are not infected rather than protecting uninfected people from acquiring infection.” He goes on to say that the average drug store mask only provides limited benefit and that he doesn’t recommend wearing one in a low risk situation. The implication here is that Fauci was telling someone privately that masks aren’t necessary while telling the public to wear them. The only problem with this is he didn’t start recommending the public wear masks until 4 April. There was no contradiction.

Public record originally obtained by Buzzfeed News (full image)

Even after the CDC recommended wearing masks it was always in the context of reducing transmission to others more than preventing the wearer from contracting the virus. They also ignore the email from 16 April when Dr. Fauci wrote to the Dean of Medicine at University of South Carolina that he should encourage his employees to wear masks at work. Again, consistent with what he and the Coronavirus Task Force was recommending in public. At no point after late March does he state or even imply people shouldn’t wear a mask in public.

The Wuhan Coverup

The other attempt to use these emails to undermine Dr. Fauci concerns the origins of this coronavirus. One of the emails released last week was from a self-proclaimed independent researcher named Adam Gaertner. He claimed to have evidence that COVID was a bioweapon produced by China. He included a lot of technical terminology but no indication that he had conducted any research or where his information came from. As far as I can tell this guy is not a PhD but instead ran a website called Covidcandy that sold COVID related merchandise. On his twitter he claims to have “discovered the cure for COVID.” It appears Dr. Fauci rightfully ignored this email. Despite how obviously unqualified this individual is, many news stories have used this as evidence of Fauci hiding the truth about COVID’s origin.

Public record originally obtained by Buzzfeed News (full image)

The more often cited evidence of Fauci’s “coverup” is an email from Dr. Kristian Andersen on 31 January 2020. Unlike Gaertner, Dr. Andersen is a recognized expert in evolutionary biology. In this email Andersen states he finds this coronavirus’ “genome inconsistent with expectations from evolutionary theory.” This suggests the Chinese engineered the virus. Yet, three months later Dr. Fauci was on national television stating the evidence of the origin of the virus was, “very strongly leaning toward this could not have been artificially or deliberately manipulated.” Obviously, the emails caught Fauci in a lie, except no they didn’t. What these conservative media outlets overlook is that the 31 Jan email from Dr. Andersen was only referring to their preliminary impressions. After further review of the evidence, they published their findings in the medical journal Nature Medicine concluding, “our analyses clearly show that SARS-CoV-2 is not a laboratory construct or a purposefully manipulated virus.” So once again, even a quick look at the evidence reveals Dr. Fauci’s statements about the virus’ origin in May 2020 was consistent with the best evidence available at the time.

Another email along these lines came on 21 February 2020 from Dr. Michael Jacobs, a professor of dermatology at Cornell. He expressed concerns that there was a possibility the Chinese released the virus from the Wuhan Institute of Virology. He doesn’t present any evidence to support this idea, but it was Dr. Fauci’s response that raised the Spidey senses of conservatives. Fauci forwarded the email to a subordinate with the instructions, “Please handle.”

We’ve all learned from watching mob movies that when the boss tells one of his guys to handle a situation, they mean they’re going to get whacked. They probably weren’t implying Dr. Fauci was putting a hit out on Dr. Jacobs, but they were implying something sinister. In reality, he was simply referring the matter to the Deputy Director of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases to follow up with this individual. They never mention the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) called Dr. Jacobs two days later and let him explain his theories. This was also shortly before Dr. Andersen and his team published their findings that the virus was not human engineered. Once again, this was another attempt to try and make a routine matter look like a smoking gun.

The Gain-of-Function Conspiracy

Finally, many right-wing pundits have pointed to a 19 April 2020 email as the proof of Fauci’s coverup of the virus’ origin. In this email Peter Daszak from the EcoHealth Alliance thanked Dr. Fauci for “standing up and stating that the scientific evidence supports a natural origin for COVID-19.” EcoHealth has become the target of many COVID conspiracies lately. They received a NIAID grant and subcontracted some of the research to the Wuhan Institute. They paid the Chinese lab $600,000 over four years to collaborate on some research. The allegation is that the Chinese used this money to create a coronavirus that was transmittable from bats to humans in order to study it in a laboratory environment. This is referred to as gain-of-function research. Then due to sloppy lab work they accidentally released the virus into the wild, starting the pandemic.

The truth is the activities covered by this grant did not include gain-of-function research. There is disagreement between scientists concerning whether or not the Wuhan lab does gain-of-function research. However, the grant only covered the collection of samples, not the actual research. The Wuhan Institute is one of the leading research institutions on coronaviruses like the one that caused the 2003 SARS outbreak. They were an obvious research institution to partner with on this project. Peter Daszak was simply thanking Dr. Fauci for publicly speaking the truth.

Again, as of April of 2020 the best evidence was that the virus was naturally occurring and had nothing to do with the lab. That is still considered the most probable case today by researchers who have studied the DNA of the virus. Recently circumstantial evidence pointing to the lab in Wuhan has come to light. Leading scientists, including Dr. Fauci, have called on continued research into the origin of the virus, but there is no evidence Fauci has ever misled anyone.

The whole idea that a $600,000 grant spread out over 4 years to an institute the size of Wuhan somehow caused the pandemic is laughable. Everyone with knowledge of this grant has stated it did not involve gain-of-function research and there’s no reason to believe otherwise. There is at least a possibility that a lab accident leaked the virus into the wild. Even if that turns out to be true, it simply isn’t possible that the NIAID grant was the cause.

Having gone through most of these emails the thing that is so striking is the lack of anything controversial. It’s apparent that Dr. Fauci is in contact with health professionals and researchers around the country and it’s obvious they hold him in high regard. Despite being in this high position for decades he’s remarkably down to earth and approachable. The fact that the owner of the Covidcandy website could just email him is an example of that. Dr. Fauci is clearly highly engaged in the workings of the NIAID and is actively promoting public health.

Republican Madness

The emails are interesting, but anyone who reads these and finds anything objectionable is only interested in manufacturing outrage. Conspiracy theorists even point to his comments about the growing conspiracies surrounding the lab in Wuhan as evidence of the coverup. As one of the leading public health officials in the country he has an obligation to combat misinformation. Again, this is an example of Dr. Fauci doing his job and being rewarded with accusations of criminal activity.

Public record originally obtained by Buzzfeed News (full image)

More evidence of the smear campaign against Dr. Fauci is the reluctance of right-wing media to mention his comments refuting allegations that Trump was censoring him. In response to an article that alleged President Trump was limiting his freedom to talk publicly, Fauci wrote, “I am not being muzzled or censored.” Seems like conservative media would really highlight this in defense of the former president. Yet, conservative media outlets have only sporadically mentioned it. Seems like they’re afraid to say anything that puts Dr. Fauci in a positive light.

Rand Paul (@DrRandPaul) / Twitter

If this was just a few Facebook warriors trying to make hay over this, it might not be a newsworthy story. But this release of emails has given some members of Congress renewed cause to call for Dr. Fauci’s firing. Senator Rand Paul tweeted, “It’s time to fire Fauci!” He went on to say the emails proved “FAUCI has been lying.” In a crazed interview on Fox News Senator Paul stated Dr. Fauci had “moral culpability” for the pandemic that has killed approximately four million people around the world. Senator Paul has been joined by at least two other senators and multiple representatives including House Minority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy. Even Republicans who haven’t called for Dr. Fauci’s firing have jumped on the bandwagon questioning his honesty and expertise.

Conclusion

This is all faux outrage among Republicans. They know there’s not a single piece of evidence in these emails, or anywhere else, indicating Dr. Fauci has ever misled the public. Being publicly critical of Dr. Fauci has become another Republican litmus test along with “Trump won the election.” Any Republican politician who fails this test can expect a Trump backed primary challenger. It was largely Trump’s bungling of the U.S. COVID response that cost him the election, and Republicans control of the Senate. They’ve strategized they can project that blame onto Dr. Fauci with a coordinated smear campaign. This is like throwing meat at the rabid dogs of Trump’s core supporters.

In the battle for America’s soul, it’s often the side that makes the most noise that comes out on top. Republicans are standing on their soapboxes banging their drums as loud as they can. The facts speak for themselves, but only if people know what they are. If we allow this dishonest effort to succeed, American democracy will be one step closer to the dustbin of history.