Revealed in journalist-obtained emails, Dr. Anthony Fauci had a Google alert for his full name and passed along an article about his sex appeal.
Fauci pulled a classic humble brag via email in April 2020 when he complained to someone about a write-up talking about the Internet’s “sexualization” of the bureaucrat, titled, “‘Cuomo Crush and ‘Fauci Fever’ — Sexualization of These Men Is a Real Thing on the Internet.”
A “humble brag,” for the uninitiated, is defined as follow: “an ostensibly modest or self-deprecating statement whose actual purpose is to draw attention to something of which one is proud.”
The Washington Post reported on the emails (emphasis added):
At times, Fauci grew bewildered by the public fascination with him, the emails show. On March 31, a colleague at the National Institutes of Health sent Fauci an article from The Post with the headline, “Fauci socks, Fauci doughnuts, Fauci fan art: The coronavirus expert attracts a cult following.”
“Truly surrealistic. Hopefully, this all stops soon,” Fauci replied. In another note, he added: “It is not at all pleasant, that is for sure.”
On April 7, Fauci received a Google News alert for his name. One of the articles was titled, “ ‘Cuomo Crush and ‘Fauci Fever’ — Sexualization of These Men Is a Real Thing on the Internet.” Fauci forwarded the note to someone (the name and email address are redacted) and urged the person to click on the link.
“It will blow your mind,” the doctor wrote. “Our society is really totally nuts.”
The article Fauci shared, from an outlet called Talent Recap, proclaimed that people are “falling in love with Dr. Fauci”:
Dr. Anthony Fauci is the top American infectious disease specialist and has served as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984. He has become a trusted voice and the public face of the coronavirus pandemic.
Dr. Fauci has also debunked a lot of myths and misconceptions about the virus and has really become a man of the people. Viewers admire his candor and the fact that he does not hold back when it comes to delivering facts and the reality of the world crisis. But being the man of the hour can take unexpected turns and it seems that Fauci’s popularity is turning into a fever, often even sexualized.
People did not refrain from expressing their #Faucifever online. They even started a petition to name him the “Sexiest Man Alive.”
The email recovery also revealed that Fauci was warned that China was likely lying about COVID-19 deaths. In reaction, the public health official said the email was “too long for me to read.” The Daily Wire reported:
In mid-March 2020, a physicist sent an email to Dr. Anthony Fauci that China was lying about the number of deaths in China due to the coronavirus, writing that he had been “modeling this outbreak since January,” adding, “The data posted by China is not only garbage, it has misled the world into a false sense of security” vis-à-vis “death rate, age vs. death” and “I truly believe the outbreak tsunmai in the USA is either already happened or is about to happen. As you know, as soon as a surge is sensed, the Tsunami will immediately follow. I believe we missed the containment boat quite a while ago.”
Fauci forwarded the email to a member of the NIH, writing, “Too long for me to read.”
Related: #FauciEmails: Uncovered Emails About Masks Spark Outrage, Speculation