America's chief immunologist claps back.
By Blakeney Schick Senior Producer, Opinion Audio |
"We're living through my worst nightmare." That's what Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government's top infectious disease expert, tells Kara Swisher, the host of Opinion's podcast "Sway," toward the end of today's episode. |
Sounds about right to me. |
In mid-January, I got Covid-19. I'll never know exactly how. The three weeks that followed have blurred together, but I won't forget the feeling of total exhaustion, the cough that felt like it would crack my ribs and the splitting headaches. |
Yet I was incredibly lucky; my case was moderate and, six months later, I seem to have recovered fully. Last weekend, I was able to do something that seemed impossible three months ago: I ran a 10K, my first race since getting sick. |
After more than a year of social distancing, it felt incredible to stand in the start corral with hundreds of other runners and then be cheered on by total strangers as I ran through Central Park. |
As the United States reopens, it seems like the nightmare could be over. But the pandemic's impact lingers — in our schools, our economy and especially in our politics. |
For Fauci, that means he's still under fire. He's been called a Nazi, a flip-flopper and the author of Faucism, a play on fascism. And thousands of Fauci's emails published by Buzzfeed and The Washington Post are being dissected, with scathing speculation about what's been redacted and critiques of why he didn't know more — for example, on masks — earlier. |
This is where Fauci gets, well, feisty. Responding to his (mostly right-wing) critics he says, "Here's a guy whose entire life has been devoted to saving lives. And now you're telling me he is like Hitler? You know, come on, folks. Get real." |
Fauci knows that the political divides surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic won't be bridged any time soon. But we can all agree, it's been a nightmare. |
Here's what we're focusing on today: |
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