Anthony Fauci wrote "Amazing day today" in his diary while 170 Americans were dying from COVID.
Now his private journal – 1,141 pages released by Senator Rand Paul – shows the man who locked America down was tracking his own press clippings between death counts.
But Ron DeSantis called Anthony Fauci's attacks on him a badge of honor.
What Fauci Was Really Doing While Americans Suffered
The diary entry from January 29, 2020 tells you everything you need to know about Anthony Fauci.
Pelosi was telling everyone how great he was.
Trump told him "Anthony, you are a really a famous guy" and Fauci noted that the people in the room were "clearly stunned and impressed."
He closed that same entry noting there had been 170 deaths.
The same diary reveals Fauci knew the lab leak theory was plausible from day one.
https://twitter.com/RonDeSantis/status/2082112013845606783?s=20
As early as January 31, 2020 – weeks before he was publicly dismissing the lab as a fringe conspiracy – his own scientists were telling him the virus's furin cleavage site looked "constructed," with roughly half the experts on that call privately doubting a natural origin.
He spent years telling the public the opposite.
The diary also shows Fauci privately estimated COVID's fatality rate at 0.2% to 0.3% – closer to a bad flu – while publicly pushing a 2% figure that terrified America into accepting house arrest.
The Man DeSantis Called Out When Nobody Else Would
DeSantis fought Fauci in real time, and Fauci wrote about it in his diary with barely contained rage.
"Governor DeSantis is a complete disgrace," Fauci wrote, furious that Florida was blocking mask mandates in schools while cases surged.
He went on to link DeSantis, Rand Paul, Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, and Laura Ingraham to January 6 and "The Big Lie" – all because they dared to say he might be wrong.
DeSantis was right.
Florida kept schools open – the first state in the nation to mandate in-person learning while blue states welded playgrounds shut.
Florida's economy grew 24% between early 2020 and late 2022, outpacing the national average by 23 percentage points.
https://twitter.com/RonDeSantis/status/2081842131388322150?s=20
Florida focused vaccine distribution on the elderly and vulnerable – exactly the right call, as every serious epidemiologist now agrees.
Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, one of the authors of the Great Barrington Declaration, said it plainly: "The verdict is in. Lockdowns were a huge mistake."
The Accountability Problem Nobody Wants to Say Out Loud
DeSantis isn't optimistic Fauci pays a price – and he's probably right.
He wrote on X that a Washington, D.C. jury would likely treat Fauci as "an almost divine figure" and "unquestionably vote to nullify any case against him."
That's the game.
When conservatives clash with the swamp, they get convicted in 15 minutes by juries that have already made up their minds.
When swamp creatures face accountability, they walk.
Fauci will testify before the Senate Homeland Security Committee this week.
He will be polished.
He will invoke his 40 years of service.
He will imply that anyone questioning him wants people to die.
And the same media he tracked in his diary with apparent delight – counting his television appearances alongside COVID deaths as if they were equally significant milestones – will run stories about brave Dr. Fauci facing down Republican bullies.
That's how the swamp protects its own.
The 1,141-page diary will still be sitting there: a record of a man who privately suspected the virus was engineered, quietly estimated its death rate was a fraction of what he told the public, and called the governor who turned out to be right a "complete disgrace."
DeSantis wore that as a badge of honor.
He earned it.
Sources:
- Merrilee Gasser, "DeSantis: 'Almost divine figure' like Fauci unlikely to be held accountable," The Center Square, July 27, 2026.
- Amy Curtis, "Ron DeSantis: Fauci's Criticism Is a 'Badge of Honor'," Townhall, July 28, 2026.
- Senator Rand Paul, Reading Room – Fauci Diary Release Summary, paul.senate.gov, July 25, 2026.
- Alana Mastrangelo, "Actress Patricia Heaton on Fauci Diaries: Lying COVID Tyrant Was 'Exulting in His Fame' While We Were Locked Down," Breitbart, July 27, 2026.
- The Federalist, "10 Questions For Congress To Ask Fauci About His Covid Corruption," July 28, 2026.
- Governor Ron DeSantis Press Release, "Governor Ron DeSantis Highlights Three Years of Florida's Success After Rejecting COVID-19 Orthodoxy," flgov.com, March 16, 2023.
- Governor Ron DeSantis and Experts Discuss Grand Jury Report on COVID-19, flgov.com, February 9, 2024.
