BS BRIEFING
- Newly released COVID-era diary entries show Dr. Anthony Fauci privately venting about Elon Musk’s criticism, including writing, “What b*llshit!” after Musk amplified a post questioning Fauci’s daughter’s past employment at Twitter. The entries are among more than 1,100 pages released by Sen. Rand Paul ahead of Fauci’s Senate testimony.
- The diary entries surfaced just one day after Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment more than 100 times during a contentious Senate hearing chaired by Paul, further fueling renewed scrutiny of his pandemic-era decisions.
- The diaries continue to dominate Washington by providing an unfiltered look at Fauci’s private reactions to critics, politicians, journalists and public figures during the COVID era, reopening political debates many Americans thought had faded.
FAUCI’S PRIVATE DIARY REVEALS HOW MUCH ELON MUSK GOT UNDER HIS SKIN
Dr. Anthony Fauci’s newly released COVID-era diary continues to generate headlines—and this time the target of his frustration wasn’t Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis or Fox News.
It was Elon Musk.
Among the more than 1,100 pages of diary entries released by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Fauci documented his growing irritation with the billionaire entrepreneur after Musk purchased Twitter—now X—and began openly criticizing the government’s pandemic response.
In a December 12, 2022, entry, Fauci wrote:
“All of a sudden, Elon Musk has started to viciously attack me with tweets on Twitter.”
The following day, Fauci complained that reporters were asking him about Musk’s criticism and included a screenshot of a post Musk had amplified from conservative activist Laura Loomer.
Loomer’s post questioned whether emails belonging to Fauci’s daughter, who had previously worked as a software engineer at Twitter, should be made public to examine whether her father influenced the platform’s COVID moderation policies.
Fauci’s handwritten reaction was blunt.
“Many people in the press and outside are asking about and concerned about the attacks on me by Elon Musk. Look at this tweet. What b*llshit!”
The diary then preserved the screenshot as part of his personal record.
A separate December 13 entry shows Fauci continuing to monitor the media coverage surrounding Musk’s criticism. He referenced a Washington Post column arguing that outrage directed at Musk only increased his influence and summarized the author’s advice to simply ignore him.
The Musk entries are only the latest revelations from the diary, which has become a political lightning rod since Rand Paul released it ahead of Wednesday’s Senate hearing.
Other entries include Fauci criticizing then-President Donald Trump as “rambling” and “a true embarrassment,” calling Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis a “complete disgrace,” lamenting criticism from Fox News personalities including Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham, and reflecting extensively on his own media attention during the pandemic.
The diary dump culminated Wednesday with Fauci appearing before the Senate Homeland Security Committee, where he repeatedly invoked the Fifth Amendment rather than answer questions from Republican senators.
Chairman Rand Paul said the hearing was part of his continuing investigation into COVID-19’s origins and the federal government’s pandemic response. Fauci defended his decision, arguing that Paul’s repeated calls for his prosecution created legal risk and left him no choice but to invoke his constitutional rights.
DBS WIRE SOURCES
- Mediaite – ‘What B*llshit!’ Furious Fauci Complained About Elon Musk’s ‘Attacks’ in Unearthed Diary
- Associated Press – Takeaways from Anthony Fauci’s COVID-era diaries
- Reuters – Fauci invokes Fifth Amendment at Rand Paul-led Senate COVID hearing
- The Washington Post – Fauci’s diary reveals his thoughts on a ‘rambling’ Trump and his own fame
- CBS News – Fauci diaries, released by Sen. Rand Paul, touch on COVID origins and tense relationship with Trump
- National Review – Even Fauci Was Shocked by How Much the Media Loved Him
