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‘Completely crazy’: Fauci disputes ‘misconception’ he was ‘misleading’ Americans about masks, lockdowns

October 17, 2022 | | Print Article

Even as Americans are beginning to learn of the widespread negative effects of masks and lockdowns on our nation’s youth, Dr. Anthony Fauci, who repeatedly flip-flopped on COVID policies that will impact millions long after he leaves his position as the White House’s chief medical advisor in December, claims he wasn’t “misleading” people about the authoritarian mitigation measures that have left many out of jobs and a generation of children now battling developmental challenges.

(Video: ABC)

When asked on Sunday by ABC’s Jonathan Karl on “This Week” what is “the biggest misconception” about him, Fauci stated it’s the “completely crazy” notion that he acted according to a political agenda rather than in the best interest of the American people.

“I think the misconception is that I was misleading people,” he said. “You know, to say that I, who have been adviser to seven presidents, and have never ever veered one way or the other from an ideological standpoint, and for somebody to say that, you know, I’m… political, I mean that’s completely crazy.”

Early on in the pandemic, Fauci famously said that there’s no reason for people “to be walking around in a mask.”

That quickly changed, and Fauci began encouraging people to not only wear masks but to don eye shields if they truly wanted to be safe from COVID.

Later, it was revealed that masks were discouraged in the beginning, not because they weren’t effective, but because Fauci feared there wouldn’t be enough masks to protect frontline medical workers.

But, sure… it’s totally crazy to think he was misleading people.

Karl gently pressed him on this issue, asking if Fauci would “take back” what he initially said about masks.

“Obviously, the guidance changed… but you were very definitive,” Karl said. “You said there’s absolutely no reason for people to be wearing masks.”

“Yes. I mean, sure, if I had to do it over again, of course. I would have analyzed it a little bit better,” Fauci conceded.

But a year after his infamous comment dismissing the use of masks, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) did analyze it better and found that masks did little to lower sickness and death rates.

“Mandating masks was associated with a decrease in daily COVID-19 case and death growth rates within 20 days of implementation. Allowing on-premises restaurant dining was associated with an increase in daily COVID-19 case growth rates 41–100 days after implementation and an increase in daily death growth rates 61–100 days after implementation,” the study found in March 2021.

Still, Fauci would continue to insist people mask up — unless, of course, there was a super cool party to attend.

Fauci was then asked by Karl if closing the schools during much of the pandemic was a “mistake.”

“Mistake” is not a word of which Anthony Fauci is fond.

“I don’t want to use the word ‘mistake,’ Jon, because if I do it gets taken out of the context that you’re asking me the question on,” he said. “I would say that what we should realize and have realized, that there will be deleterious collateral consequences when you do something like that.”

“This idea that this virus doesn’t afflict children is not so,” he continued. “It does. We’ve lost close to 1,500 kids so far… So, it isn’t without consequences.”

“If you go back, and I ask anybody to go back over the number of times that I’ve said we’ve got to do everything we can to keep the schools open, no one plays that clip,” he complained. “They always come back and say, ‘Fauci was responsible for closing schools.'”

“But a lot of schools were closed,” Karl noted. “[T]here was a lot of remote learning… It went on– in some jurisdictions for the better part of two years… And we’ve seen the impact. We’ve seen what’s happened in terms of lower reading scores, lower math scores… And who knows the psychological impact… I mean it was a steep cost.”

And, indeed, we as a nation are only just beginning to understand just how steep that cost will be.

Increasingly, speech therapists are reporting that children are experiences developmental delays due to the ineffective masks they were forced to wear in large part because of Fauci’s recommendations.


(Video: YouTube)

Fauci’s response?

“It was [a steep cost],” he agreed.

But according to him, “[t]he most important thing is to protect the children.”

Online, reactions to Fauci’s interview reflected the fury many feel for the soon-to-be former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

“He should be tried before an international tribunal for crimes against humanity,” one person tweeted.

“Fraudci should be in Jail,” wrote another.

“Tony Fauci is a monster,” stated a third. “He belongs in jail.”

Melissa Fine
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