After more than a year of being in the spotlight, Dr. Anthony Fauci is getting his own documentary.
The glossy National Geographic documentary will cover Fauci’s work on the coronavirus pandemic, as well as his work searching for a vaccine to fight the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
The New York Times, which published a glowing piece on the documentary, titled “Dr. Fauci, Movie Star,” prompted scoffs Thursday from critics of the chief medical advisor to the president.
Fauci talked to the Times about being a target of “a firestorm of the crazy far right” and “extreme far right QAnon jerks.” He dubbed the upcoming film “an honest, down-to-earth documentary.”
The Times noted that while the National Geographic filmmakers stressed that Fauci had no editorial control over the film, there were “few warts on display” in the documentary.
“The movie is overwhelmingly admiring,” the newspaper admits.
The only voice in the documentary criticizing Fauci is Times science reporter Apoorva Mandavilli, who acknowledges that there could be some validity to the criticism of Fauci’s initial flip-flop on face masks for the general public. Near the beginning of the pandemic, Fauci advised the public not to wear masks, but he later reversed that advice.
Critics on Twitter wasted no time in mocking both the documentary and the Times piece.
“They produced a documentary on his two biggest failures. Dumb,” one critic tweeted.
“He’s known for his work on an AIDS vaccine…which he failed to create,” wrote another.
“Can’t wait for the follow up: ‘Fauci Behind Bars,'” The Blaze TV host Sara Gonzales commented.
“If this is a true and honest documentary, Fauci will not come out of it looking good. He was a disaster on AIDs, which is documented if you look for it, and terrible on Wuhan coronavirus. Naturally, he’s failed up throughout his government career,” conservative commentator Katie Pavlich wrote.
Fauci, who has headed the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984, has advised six former presidents on infectious diseases including HIV/AIDS. Last year, Fauci told The Guardian that, “my career and my identity has really been defined by HIV.”
Fauci was deeply involved in former President George W. Bush’s program to combat the global AIDS epidemic. He and his team of researchers searched for an AIDS vaccine, but were ultimately unsuccessful in developing one.
“Research continues on other approaches to a safe and effective HIV vaccine, which I still believe can be achieved,” Fauci said last year after yet another HIV vaccine trial failed. His remark came shortly before he was thrust into the national spotlight when the coronavirus pandemic began.
Fauci also spoke with the Times about the similarities and differences he sees between the AIDS crisis of the 1980s and the COVID pandemic.
“I cared about them, and they were fighting for a good cause,” he remarked to the Times about the AIDS activists who attacked him decades ago. “They weren’t fighting for a conspiracy theory.”
If this is a true and honest documentary, Fauci will not come out of it looking good. He was a disaster on AIDs, which is documented if you look for it, and terrible on Wuhan coronavirus. Naturally, he’s failed up throughout his government career. https://t.co/iFw207Mdnc
— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) September 23, 2021
They produced a documentary on his two biggest failures.
— John Cardillo (@johncardillo) September 23, 2021
He's known for his work on an AIDS vaccine…which he failed to create. https://t.co/4dWz567Wlr
— Derek Hunter (@derekahunter) September 23, 2021
Can’t wait for the follow up:
“Fauci Behind Bars.” https://t.co/2CLdu6yrkh— Sara Gonzales (@SaraGonzalesTX) September 23, 2021