RFK Jr’s sister says ‘hero’ Fauci’s diary should be private, misses a giant hole in argument

BS BRIEFER

Kerry Kennedy publicly defended Dr. Anthony Fauci, calling him a “hero” and condemning Sen. Rand Paul’s release of more than 1,100 pages of Fauci’s COVID-era journals as a violation of privacy.
The diary release comes just ahead of Fauci’s Senate testimony before Sen. Rand Paul’s Homeland Security Committee, where Republicans plan to question him about COVID origins, gain-of-function research, and his pandemic decision-making.
The fight is no longer just about what Fauci wrote. It’s become another front in the larger battle over government transparency, public accountability, and the legacy of America’s COVID response.

KERRY KENNEDY RUSHES TO FAUCI’S DEFENSE AS COVID DIARY CONTROVERSY INTENSIFIES

The political war over Dr. Anthony Fauci’s newly released COVID-era journals took another turn Tuesday after Kerry Kennedy came to the former public health official’s defense, praising him as a “hero” while accusing Sen. Rand Paul of violating his privacy.

Kennedy, daughter of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and sister of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., posted an emotional tribute to Fauci after excerpts from the journals became public.

“My mum admired you, Dr. Fauci, and considered you a hero, as do I,” Kennedy wrote, quoting one diary entry describing an invitation Fauci received to spend the Fourth of July with the Kennedy family in Hyannis Port.

She then criticized Paul for releasing the journals.

“There’s a right to privacy in our country,” Kennedy wrote. “The left, right, and middle can all agree that publishing someone’s personal diaries is a clear violation. There’s an exception for excerpts that reveal wrongdoing, corruption, or abuse. Sen. Rand Paul jeopardized all our rights when he wholesale published thousands of pages of Dr. Fauci’s personal diaries. That’s no way to treat a citizen. That’s no way to treat a hero.”

Her comments immediately ignited debate online.

Mum admired you, Dr. Fauci, and considered you a hero, as do I.

Excerpt from Dr. Fauci’s diary: “I received a call from Ethel and Kerry Kennedy explicitly inviting (me) up to Hyannisport for 4th of July weekend. They were so nice over the phone. They said that they loved and… pic.twitter.com/18pOH8ccF0

— Kerry Kennedy (@KerryKennedyRFK) July 28, 2026

Many critics argued the journals were not traditional private diaries but government records maintained on federal computer systems during Fauci’s tenure as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said his department spent months locating the records on government servers before providing them to the Senate committee investigating the federal COVID response.

Sen. Rand Paul, who chairs the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, released more than 1,100 pages of Fauci’s writings ahead of Wednesday’s hearing.

Paul argues the journals provide insight into Fauci’s public statements, his behind-the-scenes interactions with government officials, and his views on issues ranging from the lab-leak theory to his growing media profile during the pandemic.

According to several news organizations that reviewed the material, the entries chronicle Fauci’s frequent television appearances, his frustration with then-President Donald Trump, discussions about COVID’s origins, and private observations about political and scientific disputes unfolding inside the White House.

The journals have produced sharply divided reactions.

Instead of arguing about what’s in the journals, some of Fauci’s defenders are now arguing that Americans shouldn’t have been allowed to read them at all.

Nobody likes having private thoughts exposed. That’s understandable. But there’s another principle involved here: transparency.

These journals weren’t discovered in someone’s attic decades after retirement. According to the government itself, they were found on federal servers after an extensive search by HHS. If those records were created and stored using government resources while documenting one of the most consequential periods in modern American history, it’s hardly surprising that Congress—and the public—would want to examine them.

Kerry Kennedy calls Fauci a hero. Millions of Americans remember him very differently.

For many families, COVID wasn’t just a chapter in a diary. It was shuttered businesses, canceled graduations, missed funerals, isolated grandparents, closed churches, vaccine mandates, and years of questions that still haven’t been fully answered.

DBS WIRE SOURCES: