Newly released records kept by The Science™ himself revealed just how preoccupied Dr. Anthony Fauci was with “very flattering” coverage “becoming a star that outshines” the president.
Throughout the government’s response to COVID-19, the then-director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) became ubiquitous through press conferences, corporate media spots, magazine photoshoots, and even an infamous maskless public appearance at a baseball game.
During this time, Fauci kept dated notes which, ahead of scheduled congressional testimony on Wednesday, were released over the weekend under the heading “Tony’s Diary,” showing how a personally kept record of daily death tolls and case numbers was juxtaposed with headlines about himself and experiences with stardom in a collection of more than 1,100 pages.
In one such entry dated April 7, 2020, shortly after 15 days to slow the spread had expanded to a month, Fauci wrote, “Press still hot and heavy about me. Multiple stories per day directly or indirectly involving me.”
Then, on the Thursday before Memorial Day that year, he followed up notes about a press conference and task force meeting by writing, “Big front page article about me appeared in the Washington Post. Very flattering. The situation with my national and international fame is explosive and really unimaginable.”
“It is not hyperbole to say that today I am the most famous and talked about person in the country and one of the most recognizable peson [sic] in the world. Countless profiles on me in multiple media. I cannot even read all the things that are written abuyt [sic] me since I am so busy….seriously. POTUS seems to be enamored of me even though I am taking the spotlight away from him. [sic].”
Fauci went on to claim that the U.S. Secret Service would clear him through security “without even checking ID.”
Fauci’s diary entry for May 21, 2020 is one of the most grotesque documents you will ever read. It opens with the mounting Covid death toll and people dying across the country, then abruptly pivots into an extended exercise in self-congratulation about his newfound fame. How was… pic.twitter.com/IMpCWerfTR
— Hans Mahncke (@HansMahncke) July 25, 2026
The following day, he contended that the White House was “very upset” that he was being profiled, “it looks like I am putting down [Trump] and becoming a star that outshines him.” Fauci noted how he told an official he “would not do anymore profiles.” He went on to document how he declined an invitation to appear on “Dancing with the Stars.”
Exposure of Fauci’s personal thoughts, including negative views of Dr. Scott Atlas, who was described as a “FOX News Commentator … against everything we are saying,” comes courtesy of Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul (R) as chair of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee ahead of a Wednesday hearing. Fauci was said to have first agreed to the hearing only to change his mind, resulting in a congressional subpoena.
The lawmaker’s own focus regarding “Tony’s Diary” spoke to the NIAID director’s own private admission in January 2020 that the Chinese wet market was “not the source, it was the amplifier,” along with other insights such as exchanges with Dr. Deborah Birx.
2/9 Jan. 26, 2020. Fauci writes in his diary: “Now we know the market was not the source, it was the amplifier.”
That is January of 2020. The wet market was already off the table in his own private notes. pic.twitter.com/mz0OzcPHgg
— Senator Rand Paul (@SenRandPaul) July 25, 2026
Other entries spoke to Fauci’s socialization while many in the country were still facing draconian policies. Ahead of Independence Day 2020, Fauci touted his friendship with the late Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy (D) while remarking that he’d made an effort to befriend then-Massachusetts Rep. Joseph Kennedy III (D). This was immediately followed by a comment about his schmoozing with CNN’s Jake Tapper.
“Had dinner over Jake Tapper and Jen Tapper’s home in DC. Terrific couple. Friendship building,” he wrote.
Again in October of that year, just days before the presidential election, Fauci noted, “Had dinner at my home with Jake and Jennifer Tapper. Relaxed, good time. Jake clearly believes that Trump is totally nuts.”
Remarking on the relationship, commentator Stephen L. Miller contended, “[Tapper] should probably come clean on air now about the nature of his personal relationship with Anthony Fauci and how he and his network skewed Covid coverage on his recommendations … And if he doesn’t? Subpoena him.”
And if he doesn’t? Subpoena him.
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) July 27, 2026
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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