It wasn't a communication error, and the media just reported what he said. It was the intention of Fauci to tamp down demand for masks to allow supply to flow to the medical community instead of to the public. He said as much in July.
"I don't regret anything I said then because in the context of the time in which I said it, it was correct. We were told in our task force meetings that we have a serious problem with the lack of PPEs,"
So what did he actually say when he allegedly "lied"? Or was it that explicitly Fauci, missed to say something, and why just him and not the entire medical profession? Was the environment fertile for healthy discussion, as it was in our country? With accusations like that, there better be real quotes behind it, not just statements after the fact.
In our country, we got the message that healthcare workers were prioritized first, so masks had to go to them. Maybe the media frenzy in USA forgot to tell that, or maybe that message got lost on the way to everybody. Why do you assume bad faith from medical officials, and on what grounds?
There was also consensus among doctors that you need qualifications/training for masks to be useful. I see that only as common arrogance and lack of research. This was corrected with later investigations and tests.
Do you believe consensus among experts at the time was that the public would be adequately protected with masks? They knew the virus was more infectious than that at the time. So there's little point in recommending something that will become in too short supply fast and lead to unsafe behaviour. At first, distancing would be best focal point to direct behaviour in the populace, which would be the responsibility of the administration.
Was there any signs of intention from Fauci to mislead the public? What motive would be behind doing it that way?
You might also remember Fauci was later denied making official comments, clarifications and corrections in front of the press. That decision from the top and lack of support from the top, shifts responsibility up.
>Personally, I think experts should err on the side of humility in public communications — and that means telling the truth, even when it’s complex.
That's what Fauci did. The problem is that nobody bothered to actually listen. In the video where he was allegedly lying, he said that he thinks that masks are ineffective at preventing you from receiving covid and that they should be saved for healthcare workers and people who are sick.
Show me where he's admitted to "deliberately lying". In every interview I've seen he's said the opposite, e.g. [1]
> "I don't regret anything I said then because in the context of the time in which I said it, it was correct. We were told in our task force meetings that we have a serious problem with the lack of PPEs and masks for the health providers who are putting themselves in harm's way every day to take care of sick people," Fauci told O'Donnell.
> "When it became clear that the infection could be spread by asymptomatic carriers who don't know they're infected, that made it very clear that we had to strongly recommend masks," he said.
> "And also, it soon became clear that we had enough protective equipment and that cloth masks and homemade masks were as good as masks that you would buy from surgical supply stores," Fauci added. "So in the context of when we were not strongly recommending it, it was the correct thing."
This a classic communication error. Media can't handle subtlety of message. It's a mistake Fauci should not make, being a decades-long expert.
But I hear, and I heard at the time, "Masks help, but they are not perfect, and if you use them in the obviously-wrong way, they are useless or harmful".
Which aligns with my understanding of every tool used for any purpose.
The Surgeon General, OTOH, was never a person to be taken seriously. But I don't blame Fauci for that.
Maybe you think Fauci changed his mind based on new evidence on mask effectiveness, but he literally says they advised against masks due to a fear of PPE shortages, and not due to changing evidence. So either way he deceived: either he deceived about mask effectiveness thus spreading health misinformation, or he deceived about why he advised against wearing masks thus undermining public trust in his advice.
Fauci admits to moving the goalposts on vaccination rates and explains it's because of his "gut feeling that the country is finally ready to hear what he really thinks":
I think public health officials like Fauci really shot themselves in the foot by undermining their credibility so early on. Public health officials in a public health crisis should be beyond reproach, but that's not how they've been acting, and continued partisan support of these figures only further deteriorates trust in scientific institutions and journalism.
Again, this is repeated a lot -- but it does not match my memory, nor can I find evidence of it in my searches.
If you know differently, please share a link.
> He could have suggested cloth masks.
IIRC, the consensus pre-COVID and post-SARS, was that cloth masks are inferior to N95 masks. When the supply of N95 masks was not considered unreliable, there was no need for public health to think about bandanas.
In Feb/Mar, before asymptomatic transmission was proven, it was reasonable to not bother suggesting cloth masks, and simultaneously to preserve the "useful" (N95) masks for the most at-risk.
> US is so dead.
There were so many failures. The system that Fauci was relying upon turned out to not have been funded. Maybe he should have known that, but I'm not sure he had visibility into the problem.
I see Fauci as the firefighter who arrives at the scene, hooks up the hoses, and discovers that the hydrants are dry and the city hadn't bothered to tell anyone.
I'm sure it's more complicated than that. He has definitely made some mistakes, but the system which is supposed to back him up has completely failed him and all the rest of us.
The apologism is pretty remarkable here. Yes, the attempt was to save masks for healthcare workers, but the message was clear that masks didn’t make that much difference. Fauci should own that, not twist words to claim he never said it.
TheStreet asked him "why weren't we told to wear masks in the beginning?"
> Well, the reason for that is that we were concerned the public health community, and many people were saying this, were concerned that it was at a time when personal protective equipment, including the N95 masks and the surgical masks, were in very short supply. And we wanted to make sure that the people namely, the health care workers, who were brave enough to put themselves in a harm way, to take care of people who you know were infected with the coronavirus and the danger of them getting infected.
He didn't say "because we didn't know any better," he said (paraphrased) so the general public doesn't go out and buy them, causing a shortage. I find that dishonest.
I never heard him say it was a mistake, I heard him say it was a necessary lie to protect supplies of masks. Do you have a link to where he said it was a mistake? Maybe I just missed it?
> "Well, the reason for [not telling people to wear masks in March, 2020] is that we were concerned the public health community, and many people were saying this, were concerned that it was at a time when personal protective equipment, including the N95 masks and the surgical masks, were in very short supply. And we wanted to make sure that the people namely, the health care workers, who were brave enough to put themselves in a harm way, to take care of people who you know were infected with the coronavirus and the danger of them getting infected."
Laudable as his intentions may be, and while I doubt he makes it a habit, he lied.
Well, the face of the government's response to the pandemic, Fauci, went on 60 minutes and stated flatly that masks didn't work. About a year later he went back on TV and was asked about his earlier comments about masks and he admitted - again, in no uncertain terms - that his previous comments stating that masks didn't work were said specifically to protect mask supplies for health care workers. Seems like he lied to me.
You do realize that the downplaying of masks was because we didn't have enough for medical staff and they didn't want to cause a run on that and leave our frontline responders unprotected?
And that it was an acknowledged mistake done under duress for the above?
Maybe you think Fauci changed his mind based on new evidence on mask effectiveness, but he literally says he advised against masks due to a fear of PPE shortages, and not due to changing evidence. So either way he lied: either he lied about mask effectiveness thus spreading health misinformation, or he lied about why he said we shouldn't wear masks thus undermining public trust in his advice.
Fauci admits to moving the goalposts on vaccination rates and explains it's because of his "gut feeling that the country is finally ready to hear what he really thinks":
I could dissect these even further and point out numerous other instances, but these are egregious enough to undermine public trust IMO. Public health officials should not be deceiving the public, they should be above reproach.
Fauci lied about masks at the start of the pandemic -- the whole world knew the size of the virus and the type of mask you need to wear to protect from it. Apparently only Americans had the genius idea to show some research showing masks are bad for you... Trump, Fauci and the whole bunch lying through their teeth and people still take their sides.... my god...
Fauci was never dishonest. That was Trump trying to shift the blame to him. Watch the original clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRa6t_e7dgI&feature=youtu.be He literally said that the reason he is advising against masks was because he was worried about shortages.
I've lost faith in Fauci when he admitted he lied about the efficacy of masks early on in the pandemic. He literally came
out and stated he lied in order to make sure frontline healthcare workers had enough PPE. That was the most insane statement I've ever heard a public health leader make - lying about healthcare to the public that may result in more infections. That is how you destroy public trust.
What's sad is that the population would understand if you just told them the truth, namely that masks help, but our frontline works desperately need them so getting them masks and PPE is a priority.
It was really short-sighted. He could have suggested cloth masks.
And Fauci was considered the best COVID thought leader. US is so dead.
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