This was one of the highlights (okay… probably “lowlights”) from the weekend that could probably do with a brief review as we get the new week underway. Like a moth to a flame, Saint Anthony Fauci couldn’t resist stopping by ABC News on Sunday to chat with Jonathan Karl as he prepares to sail off into retirement from his position as the highest-paid employee in the federal government. To his credit, Karl didn’t simply lob softballs at Fauci during the interview. Raising the image of a firm reality that’s rarely spoken of in the MSM to this day, the host asked Fauci about the obvious and devastating impact that the COVID shutdowns had on students in the nation’s public schools,. He asked Fauci if it had been a “mistake” to keep the schools closed for so long when children were among the least likely to be impacted by the virus. For his part, Fauci was cautious in his answer, but he also wanted to make it very clear that he had nothing to do with it and refused to take part in the blame game he sees being launched against him. (National Review)
Dr. Anthony Fauci, who recently announced he would be leaving his government post as White House chief medical adviser, claimed innocence on the fallout from school shutdowns, namely dramatic learning loss among K-12 students, in an interview that aired Sunday…
“Was it a mistake in so many states, in so many localities, to see schools closed as long as they were?” host Jonathan Karl asked.
“I don’t want to use the word ‘mistake’ John because if I do it gets taken out of the context that you’re asking me the question on,” Fauci replied. “Could there be too high a price?” Karl clarified, likely referencing the plummeting academic performance, social isolation, and mental health crisis that school closures fueled.
Fauci first attempted to wave away the idea that children weren’t as badly impacted by the pandemic, pointing out that we have “already lost close to 1500 kids so far.”
The Good Doctor then claimed that he had “repeatedly” urged to keep the schools open “as long as possible.” With that said, he claimed that he “had nothing to do [with it]. I mean, let’s get down to the facts.”
That claim about having “urged” officials to open the schools is technically true, at least during a narrow window of time. On December 4, 2020, Fauci appeared on ABC News and said that “the default position should be to try as best as possible within reason to keep the children in school or to get them back to school.” But he immediately followed that up by contradicting what he said this week, reminding everyone that the spread among children is “not really very big at all.”
But as American Experiment reminded us at the time, that was a new position for Fauci. In fact, it was a complete reversal. In February of 2020, Fauci blasted Ron DeSantis for pushing to reopen the schools, saying that the move “will get children infected with the coronavirus.” In August of that year, during another interview, he said that the future entails “many months” of virtual learning and continued his call to keep schools “physically closed”, particularly in areas with high or moderate transmission rates.
While it’s true that Fauci was not the person ultimately making the final decisions regarding individual school closures, he’s trying to pretend as if he wasn’t the public face of the White House and the person everyone was turning to for answers and adherence to “The Science.” In fact, at one point he proudly declared that he was “the science.”
And people believed him (for the most part). He was given the highest platform for making such calls during a national disaster and he was on our television screens more than most Hollywood stars. When he spoke, policy changed on a dime. But now he wants to ride off into the sunset and leave the wreckage of our students and our public schools systems in his wake with a casual shrug of his shoulders and a claim that he had “nothing to do with it.”
Sorry, Dr. Fauci. (Not sorry.) History has a much longer memory than that and I seriously doubt she will look upon you kindly.
Discussion about this post