DeSantis: ‘Almost divine figure’ like Fauci unlikely to be held accountable

By Merrilee Gasser
The Center Square

Anthony Fauci would likely be viewed by a District of Columbia jury as “an almost divine figure,” says second-term Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ahead of the doctor’s voice from COVID-19 testifying at the U.S. Senate.

The governor also said the media’s fawning of him “fueled his vanity. Vicious cycle.”

Fauci’s diary entries during the era of the pandemic, released publicly, are drawing heavy scrutiny. In Florida, DeSantis originally went with Fauci recommendations.

Then, calling it “freedom over Faucism,” the state blocked federal strategies through rejections, roll backs and prohibitions.

“One issue the right has yet to deal with is the asymmetry in accountability vis-a-vis the Swamp,” he wrote on X Monday. “When a conservative clashes with the Swamp, he gets convicted in 15 minutes by a DC jury. When attempts are made to hold a member of the Swamp accountable… an acquittal usually follows. A DC jury would likely view Fauci as an almost divine figure. Such a jury would unquestionably vote to nullify any case against him.”

He also said that Fauci was “lionized” by legacy media.

“The more Fauci advocated for restrictions/lockdowns and the more he criticized states like FL and GA that spurned his edicts, the more the media would treat him as a saint,” DeSantis said. “Fauci’s increasingly hysterical approach to Covid fueled this adulatory coverage — which in turn fueled his vanity. Vicious cycle.”

The more than 1,000 pages of diary entries made public by Sen. Paul Rand, R-Ky., show inconsistencies between Fauci’s public assertions and what he was thinking privately.

Early 2020 entries show the lab leak theory was considered plausible very early on while Fauci publicly pushed the natural origin theory. His statements on the fatality of the virus were also conflicting. In his diary entries he referred to COVID-19 behaving like a bad flu with a fatality rate of 0.2% to 0.3% – much lower than the 2% rate he said publicly.

Fauci is scheduled to appear before the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee on Wednesday for lawmakers to examine his testimony. DeSantis’ comments indicate he doesn’t have high hopes the doctor will be held accountable.

In Fauci’s diary entries, he kept track of news articles about himself and television appearances he made. Some entries tracked COVID-19 deaths and his media appearances within sentences of each other.

In a Jan. 29, 2020, entry, Fauci writes “Amazing day today!” and goes on to describe how U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi was “telling everyone how great I am” and that President Donald Trump told him “Anthony, you are a really a famous guy” and that other people in the room were “clearly stunned and impressed.” Fauci ends the entry stating there had been 170 deaths.

His diary entries also reveal conflicting narratives on reported gain-of-function research. Fauci has publicly denied that the National Institutes of Health conducted gain-of-function research on coronavirus but dairy entries refer to gain-of-function research taking place.

The Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center stopped collecting data on March 10, 2023, for Florida. It recorded more than 7.5 million cases in the state and 86,850 deaths. It counted 103.8 million cases nationwide and more than 1.1 million deaths.