Newly released diary entries from Dr. Anthony Fauci paint a picture of a public health official who frequently obsessed over his celebrity status, media coverage, and interactions with prominent public figures during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The journals were made public by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who has repeatedly clashed with Fauci over the federal government’s pandemic response. Paul released the entries ahead of Fauci’s scheduled appearance before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, arguing they reveal a senior official who was focused on his public profile while the nation faced a historic health crisis as well as a crisis of faith in the institutions meant to protect us.
Among the recurring themes in the diary are Fauci’s observations about his rapidly growing fame. In one April 7, 2020, entry—written as the United States had already recorded more than 60,000 COVID-19 deaths—Fauci noted the nonstop attention he was receiving from the press.
“Press still hot and heavy about me. Multiple stories per day directly or indirectly involving me,” he wrote.
Just weeks later, Fauci described his celebrity in even grander terms, writing that his “national and international fame is explosive and really unimaginable,” adding that it “is not hyoperbole [sic] 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.
The diaries also document Fauci’s awareness that his media prominence had become a point of friction within the Trump administration. According to the entries, he believed repeated interviews and glowing media profiles had created the perception that he was becoming “a star that outshines” President Trump.
Fauci devoted considerable space in his diary to recall encounters with celebrities. His journals describe conversations and meetings with entertainers, athletes, and cultural figures, including Julia Roberts, Anna Wintour, Trevor Noah, Steph Curry, Sean Penn, Matt Damon, and rapper Lil Wayne.
One diary entry recounts a phone call with Barbra Streisand, who sought his advice about receiving an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine. Fauci wrote that he recommended she receive the shot before later introducing her to Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant and listening to her music through the device.
The diary also records other moments highlighting Fauci’s newfound visibility. He wrote that Secret Service officers at the White House had become so accustomed to seeing him that they routinely waved his vehicle through security checkpoints without asking for identification. Another entry notes he received an invitation to compete on ABC’s Dancing with the Stars during the summer of 2020.
The final pages released by Paul describe Fauci attending the 2022 Kennedy Center Honors, where he wrote that Hunter Biden joked the internet “would explode” if the two were photographed embracing because they were both “being attacked by the far right GOP.”
Paul said the diary reinforces his longstanding criticism of Fauci’s leadership during the pandemic.
Fauci’s diary also revealed that he did in fact recommend locking down American cities despite claiming that he “didn’t recommend locking anything down.”
