Stanford epidemiologist says Dr. Fauci's 'credibility is entirely shot' and says his flip-flopping over masks 'made no sense'

• Jay Bhattacharya criticized Fauci as lacking credibility in interview on Friday
• The Stanford epidemiologist has been a frequent critic of lockdowns and masks
• Now he argues Fauci's emails show there was no reason to reverse on masks
• Fauci said he changed on mask use after learning of asymptomatic spread 

By KEITH GRIFFITH FOR DAILYMAIL.COM- 6 June 2021 

A professor and epidemiologist at Stanford University has declared that Dr. Anthony Fauci's 'credibility is entirely shot' following damaging revelations from his emails.

Jay Bhattacharya, a professor of medicine at Stanford, levied the criticism in an interview on Friday, questioning the rationale for Fauci's reversal on universal mask wearing last year. 

'I think he's been all over the place on masks,' Bhattacharya told Fox News host Laura Ingraham. 

'There are emails you can find in the treasure trove of emails that have been released where he acknowledged the virus has been aerosolized -- well the cloth masks people have been recommending, they're not particularly effective against aerosolized viruses,' he added.

Jay Bhattacharya (above), a professor of medicine at Stanford, questioned the rationale for Fauci's reversal on universal mask wearing last year

Bhattacharya argued that Fauci should have known that cloth face masks are not particularly effective in stopping aerosolized particles

'I really don't understand his back and forth and his answer made absolutely no sense,' he said. 

Bhattacharya, who has a medical degree and a PhD in economics, is a longstanding critic of lockdowns and universal masking, and was one of the three authors of the controversial Great Barrington Declaration that argued for lifting pandemic restrictions.

In March, Bhattacharya appeared in a round table with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, praising the Republican's more relaxed approach to economic restrictions. 

His latest interview came after thousands of Fauci's emails were released last week through public records requests, including one from February 2020 in which he told someone that it was no necessary to wear a mask to an airport.

'Masks are really for infected people to prevent them from spreading infection to people who are not infected rather than protecting uninfected people from acquiring infection,' Fauci wrote.

'The typical mask you buy in the drug store is not really effective in keeping out virus, which is small enough to pass through the material,' he added.

Fauci's evolving views on masks were just as evident in his private emails as they were in his public statements

By late March, Fauci was changing his tune both in public and private.

'There are some data from NIH that indicate that mere speaking without coughing elicits aerosols that travel a foot or two. If that is the case, then perhaps universal wearing of masks in the most practical way to go,' he wrote in an email on March 31, 2020.

He explained his reasoning in an interview with NBC one day earlier, saying it had become clear that asymptomatic individuals can transmit the infection, and thus that everyone should be considered infected for the purpose of masks.

However, Bhattacharya argued that Fauci should have known that cloth face masks are not particularly effective in stopping aerosolized particles.

'Yes you should change your mind when the science changes, what is that science that changed that convinced him that masks are the most effective way?' he asked.

'The CDC Director Robert Redfield said masks were more effective than vaccines. and Dr. Fauci did not contradict him, when Dr. Scott Atlas said that was nonsense, which it was,' he said.

'I think his credibility is entirely shot,' he added. 

Psaki on Fauci: He's an undeniable asset in COVID battle

 

Fauci is adored on the left and despised on the right, and following the release of his emails some Republicans are calling for his resignation.

Rep. Chip Roy, a Texas Republican, used the release of a batch of emails to say that Fauci should face criminal investigation.

'We have literally wrecked the greatest economy in the history of the world because Anthony Fauci wanted to be on the cover of magazines and be in at the cocktail scene circuit in D.C.,' he told podcast host Todd Starnes.

'We’ll go follow the truth wherever it may lead and if that’s criminal investigations, so be it.'

For his part, Fauci said the emails had been taken out of context. 'It's really very much an attack on science,' he told MSNBC Friday.

Being a public figure, he said, meant he expected attacks.

'My job was to make a vaccine and use my institute and its talented scientists that we have there - and that we fund in the various universities - to get a vaccine that was highly safe and highly effective and we succeeded,' he added.

'All the other stuff is just a terrible.. not-happy type of a distraction. But it's all nonsense.' 

Trump attacks Fauci over COVID Wuhan lab-origins theory

 

 

What Dr Fauci said in emails vs. what he said in public

Dr. Anthony Fauci's emails reveal the contrast between his public and private sentiments, showing what the top infectious disease expert said behind the scenes.  

The trove of emails obtained through public records requests and published on Tuesday by Buzzfeed and the Washington Post offers a rare glimpse behind the curtain as Fauci responded to the pandemic last year. 

 

Origins of COVID-19: Fauci was warned privately of lab leak possibility but dismissed it in public

Fauci's emails do not reveal his personal take on the theory that coronavirus escaped from a lab in China, but show that multiple experts warned him of the possibility. 

He received emails about this issue in January 2020, on February 21, 2020 and April 16, 2020

 

On April 18, 2020, Fauci received an email from the head of a research group which partners with the Wuhan Institute of Virology thanking him for publicly insisting that the evidence did not point to the lab as the source.

Last month - after mounting evidence supporting the lab leak theory - Fauci hedged, saying the origin is likely a natural occurrence, where it goes from an animal reservoir to a human. 

In an interview with CNN on Thursday, Fauci said that he is 'keeping an open mind that it might be a lab leak' but dismissed the idea of bioengineering as 'far out'.

Working with China: Fauci was courteous to Chinese counterparts in private but critical in public

Fauci exchanged several emails in March and April of 2020 with George Gao, the head of the Chinese CDC. 

Fauci did not ask Gao any questions about the origins of the virus. 

In one exchange, Gao apologized for an article quoting him as saying that Fauci's then stance against public mask wearing was a 'big mistake'. 

'I understand completely. No problem. We will get through this together,' Fauci replied. 

Less than a week later, Gao emailed Fauci again expressing his support amid the onslaught of attacks, saying 'Hope you are well under such a irrational situation.'

'Thank you for your kind note. All is well despite some crazy people in this world,' Fauci replied three days later. 

In public, Fauci was polite but critical of China for failing to disclose key information early in the pandemic. 

 

White House censorship: Fauci denied being 'muzzled' and said he always said what he wanted based on scientific evidence 

On March 1, 2020, Fauci responded to an email from a member of the public who expressed concern that he was being 'muzzled' by the Trump administration and offering to make an outcry.

'Please stay silent since I have not been muzzled,' Fauci responded. 'I will be on multiple TV shows tomorrow and was on FOX this AM. No one is censoring me.'

 

Publicly, Fauci also denied being 'muzzled' early in the pandemic, but once Trump left office suggested that he had been 'blocked' from certain appearances.

On January 23, 2021, just three days into President Joe Biden's term, Fauci appeared on Rachel Madow's MSNBC show, an interview he implied Trump's administration had denied. 

 

Hydroxychloroquine: Fauci expressed doubts in private and in public

Early on, Fauci expressed doubts about the immunosuppressive drug hydroxychloroquine for the treatment of COVID-19.

A small French study, which was not randomized for proper control, suggested that the cheap drug could help patients with severe COVID, and Donald Trump seized on the possibility to Fauci's dismay.

He said there's no data supporting this claim in emails on February 22, 2020, April 22, 2020 and May 1, 2020.  

 

In public, Fauci was also dismissive, dismissing the French study at a March 20, 2020 press conference as Trump looked on.

Masks: Fauci flip-flopped in private emails and in public

Fauci's evolving views on masks were just as evident in his private emails as they were in his public statements.

On February 5, 2020, Fauci said masks are 'really for infected people to prevent them from spreading infection' 

Two days later, he delivered the same advice on CNN, saying 'A lot of people are wearing masks that don't need them.'

By late March, Fauci was changing his tune in public and private.

'There are some data from NIH that indicate that mere speaking without coughing elicits aerosols that travel a foot or two. If that is the case, then perhaps universal wearing of masks in the most practical way to go,' he wrote in an email on March 31, 2020.

He explained his reasoning in an interview with NBC one day earlier, saying asymptomatic individuals can transit the infection.