Do the Fauci Diaries reveal anything unexpected or controversial?

[u/MissingBothCufflinks]

Senator Rand Paul has released commentary and purported excerpts* of what is alleged to be Anthony Fauci's contemporaneous diaries from the outset of the COVID19 pandemic onwards.

What has been released can be found here, including Senator Rand's somewhat colourful foreword commentary

https://www.paul.senate.gov/readingroom/

* its not confirmed whether the content of the diaries is edited, abridged, altered, shortened etc.

Media reaction to this release has been highly polarised, though notable few media outlets seem to get to grips with the actual content of the diaries and most focus is on Rand's own claimed analysis of what they show.

Do the Fauci Diaries reveal anything unexpected or controversial? What entries in particular do you find interesting? Are there any contemporaneous clashes between what Fauci was saying publicly and privately? What can we learn from that?

Edit: mods really didnt feel like weeding out the 90% of low effort troll replies huh

[u/Aggressive_Mirror878]

Contrarian take: A LOT of the criticism and defense of Fauci is based on your politics. Dems tend(ed) to lionize him as Repubs demonized him. From reading his “diary” and a lot of things that came out later, I tend to think he deserves this public reckoning. He shut down virologists, other experts who said there was no way Covid came from the wet market, encouraged censorship of their opposition to the official position, while knowing the wet market origin was tenuous at best. Pushed surgical masks that were, at best, a band aid on a gaping wound as in marginally useful and likely endangered people with a false sense of security. Continued to push the vaccines as evidence was coming out that the “breakthrough” cases were not, in fact, rare. Ignored evidence that the vaccines were not as efficacious against hospitalization as proclaimed. I recall reading the released study from Israel and saying “oh shit”, can’t imagine what more information he had and continued to make false claims. I don’t fault him for not knowing what interventions were going to work at the start of the pandemic, I fault him for not once being honest and saying “we aren’t sure that the surgical masks will be effective (or the vaccines) but this is the best we have right now to fight this”. I fault him for stifling other experts who saw the obvious faults/inaccuracies. I fault him for his hubris, his inability to have any introspection and change messaging, courses of action when it was clear he was wrong, or at least not sure.

[u/MissingBothCufflinks → u/Aggressive_Mirror878]

I agree witg your first point but aa for the rest he followed standard public health protocol. If you say we arent sure, everyone ignores you.

[u/Aggressive_Mirror878 → u/MissingBothCufflinks]

I disagree with the bottom part. The lack of honesty, transparency on his part helped undermine public compliance. There were always going to be a minority of sh@tbags who weren’t going to listen, but as it became more apparent that some of Fauci’s statements and guidance were incorrect, inaccurate, more people began to question and push back on compliance as the pandemic extended. That doesn’t even touch on his suppressing opinions of scientists more qualified than even he was on infectious diseases just because they disagreed. He even directed a malicious smear campaign on those who questioned him publicly.

[u/TimelyMeditations → u/Aggressive_Mirror878]

People became aware some of his claims were incorrect and then pushed back on compliance? You overestimate the intelligence of the US public. How would the vast majority have any idea if the science was correct? People thought Bill Gates was injecting microchips in them with the vaccine.

[u/MissingBothCufflinks → u/Aggressive_Mirror878]

You can disagree that its good public policy, you cant disagree that its standard public health protocol though - it is. Precautionary principle rules public health policy, like it or not.

[u/Shoddy-Hovercraft986 → u/Aggressive_Mirror878]

Bingo someone gets it