The Fauci Hearing: A Travesty With a Lesson About Messaging

Dr. Anthony Fauci at a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing on Wednesday. Allison Bailey/Sipa via AP

Donald Trump’s first stint in the White House was defined by two catastrophes: his profound mismanagement of the Covid pandemic and his authoritarian attempt to destroy American democracy that included the January 6 insurrectionist assault on Congress.

Yet a mere five-and-a-half years after that term ended, none of this shapes the present political moment. Trump managed to hornswoggle his way back into the White House, and—poof!—all of that is gone. Yet look at what Republicans, MAGA world, and the right-wing media noise machine focused on this past week: They pummeled Dr. Anthony Fauci for what happened during the pandemic.

In a Senate hearing run by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), a longtime conspiracy theorist who’s been pursuing Fauci for years with the ferocity of an Ahab on steroids, Paul and other Republicans accused Fauci of lying about the origins of Covid (to cover up what they say was a lab leak and the involvement of the National Institutes of Health in research in China that led to this lethal virus) and blasted him for promoting such countermeasures as mask-wearing, social distancing, and lockdowns. The MAGA case against Fauci is a mix of conspiracy theories, anti-vaccine sentiment, and resentment toward the government-promoted restrictions during the pandemic. While there’s no definitive answer to whether the coronavirus originated in animals and jumped to humans or escaped from a Chinese lab, the scientific community tends to support the theory it emerged in nature.

That’s still an important question to nail down. But that’s not what this hearing was about. The goal was to nail Fauci—and goad him into making a statement that could be the basis for a charge of lying to Congress. These days, given Trump’s transformation of the Justice Department into a personal hit squad that eagerly files baseless cases against his detractors, anyone who’s a MAGA target is right to fear a setup. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), who doesn’t sit on the committee that held this hearing, gave it away when he told a reporter the plan was to “put this guy in prison.”

Fauci denied Paul and his comrades the opportunity to refer him to the Justice Department for making false statements by repeatedly pleading the Fifth Amendment, which provoked much anger among the Republicans, with Paul vowing he would call for Fauci—to whom President Joe Biden issued a pardon covering his actions in government—to be prosecuted for contempt of Congress.

The hearing was gross. At one point, Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) yelled at Fauci, a man who devoted decades of his life to public service, “Who the fuck do you think you were for doing that? It is a total disgrace what you did to this country.”

The behavior of Paul and his GOP colleagues at the hearing was not surprising, and the contentious affair earned them the headlines they craved. But the hearing underscored a larger point: the GOP’s skill at messaging warfare.

Trump was at the helm during the Covid pandemic, and the United States ended up with a higher death rate than any other large, wealthy nation. According to a Lancet commission, up to 40 percent of the deaths resulting from the virus in the first year of the pandemic could have been avoided if Trump had addressed the crisis as did leaders in other Western nations.

Fauci was not the problem; Trump was. He downplayed the pandemic, repeatedly said it would end soon, discouraged testing and other countermeasures. Even though he helped bring about the rapid development of a vaccine, he fueled vaccine skepticism among conservative Americans, which contributed to the deaths of many conservative Americans. Per the Lancet study, scores of thousands of Americans died of Covid because of Trump’s mishandling of the crisis.

Yet at the hearing Republicans were bashing away at Fauci and turning the pandemic into a tale of evil scientists, diabolical conspiracies, and government overreach. The right has been flogging this dead horse for years. And whether or not they succeed in convincing the public that the leak was a Chinese plot or a Fauci error and that Covid was not such a big deal and the restrictions were government tyranny, they are distracting from the big story: Trump screwed up and many Americans died because of that.

That’s a narrative that Democrats don’t reinforce. In his acceptance speech at the online Democratic convention in 2020, Joe Biden said, “Just judge this president on the facts. Five million Americans infected with COVID-19. More than 170,000 Americans have died. By far the worst performance of any nation on Earth.” In her acceptance speech four years later, Kamala Harris called Trump an “unserious man” who “sent an armed mob to the United States Capitol.” But she said nothing about his response to the pandemic.

The Republicans have not let go of the phony Fauci tale. And this is what they do with so many of their made-for-MAGA narratives, such as the Big Lie of the 2020 election, “Russia, Russia, Russia,” the Hunter Biden laptop, and so on. Trump still rants about the 2020 election, and his Justice Department is running a bogus criminal investigation based on the false allegation that Barack Obama and his top national security aides fabricated the 2017 intelligence finding that Vladimir Putin attacked the 2016 election to help Trump.

They don’t give up in the messaging wars. They are even back to the old classic that Democrats are scheming a communist takeover of the United States. When Obama became president, he decided not to push for investigations of the assorted misdeeds of the Bush-Cheney administration. (Remember torture?) The Republicans, especially now that they are stuck with a variety of present-day messes created by the narcissistic leader of their cult-party, have no reluctance to rerun their bullshit over and over. It gins up the MAGA media and deflects from deficiencies of a president who’s setting records with his disapproval rating.

Democrats ought not to emulate the dishonesty and conspiracism of the GOP. But they could learn a thing or two about keeping a story in play. After the Covid calamity and the J6 assault Trump incited, they failed to tar Trump in a way that would render him unelectable. It’s arguable that they also failed to turn his pardons of the 1,500 rioters into potent political ammunition. They tend to move on. So while they can justifiably regard Paul’s anti-Fauci stunt with disgust, they also should ponder the value of such message reinforcement. Ceaseless pounding can be an important tool in today’s politics.

In my forthcoming book, How Russia Won: Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, and the Fight for America, I explore this messaging gap between the Rs and Ds and show how Trump’s relentless Russia denialism succeeded, particularly in the absence of a Democratic counter. Moreover, if Democrats are fortunate enough to win the House or Senate in November, they will gain the power to hold hearings and amplify and advance anti-Trump narratives. There’s plenty to choose from.

Got anything to say about this item—or anything else? Email me at ourland.corn@gmail.com.

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I will admit to nurturing a decades-long resentment against pundits who have been proven wrong and have not had to pay a price for that. Mostly, I’m thinking of the Iraq War. So many commentators banged the drums of war and proclaimed it would be a cakewalk. Instead, the Bush-Cheney invasion was an immense geostrategic blunder and caused the deaths of several thousand American soldiers and an estimated 200,000 Iraqi civilians. Yet the columnists and on-air contributors who cheered the nation into war—David Brooks, Thomas Friedman, and others—were never held to account. They kept their privileged and well-paid perches or went on to bigger and better things.

So after CBS announced that Ross Douthat, the New York Times conservative columnist, was joining 60 Minutes and the show’s executive producer, Nick Bilton, said, “Ross is one of the preeminent public intellectuals in America today, a thinker of uncommon rigor and a journalist of deep empathy,” I thought of this:

Just a little oopsie there. Douthat could not see one of the basics of current US politics: Trump is an authoritarian. If you don’t understand that, you should hand in your Public Intellectual Club membership card.

Fauci’s appearance on Capitol Hill inspired many stupid remarks. The day before, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. brayed, “Because of Dr Fauci's leadership and other reasons, we had the highest mortality rate from Covid of any country in the world."

Uh, who was president when that happened? And coming from the anti-vax Mr. Measles, this is rather rich. (By the way, several smaller nations had higher per capita death rates during Covid—which is something Kennedy should know. The United States ranked first among large and wealthy countries.)

Former Trump official Peter Navarro told the C-SPAN audience, "I had a million doses of hydroxychloroquine in warehouses as the [White House Defense Production Act] policy coordinator...that I was trying to distribute to hospitals. And [Fauci] got the FDA to stop me from doing that."

Let’s turn to the experts—though the Trump crew hates that—and look at what remains one of the definitive studies on hydroxychloroquine, which was published in the Journal of Clinical Medicine: “Hydroxychloroquine was not efficacious for treating hospitalized COVID-19 patients and caused more severe adverse events. Hydroxychloroquine should not be recommended as treatment for hospitalized COVID-19 patients.”

While campaigning for the House, Jay Feely, a GOP candidate in a competitive district in Arizona and a former NFL placekicker, dumped on Democrats for criticizing America and exclaimed: “This campaign is going to be about bringing people together. That’s what Charlie Kirk was so good at.”

Once again, a reminder: Kirk in 2023 said Joe Biden should be “given the death penalty for his crimes against America.”

That’s hardly the rhetoric of a fellow yearning to bring people together.

Dale Partridge, a Christian nationalist pastor who has supported Trump, spelled out his dream world: A “balkanized” America that would allow for a Christian “constitutional monarchy” that will usher in the “sweeping structural changes that are necessary to restore America’s Christian identity,” such as repealing women’s right to vote. He added, “I would love to see a 90-percent ethno-state.”

Does that mean a state where everyone is at least 90 percent white? Or one in which 10 percent are permitted to be nonwhite? Imagine the mechanisms for enforcing that.

This week the judges got tired of invoking the mercy rule for Trump. Thus, he won with two remarkably stupid comments. While speaking in the Oval Office on Wednesday, he said, "Any time you see windmills, you see a failing country."

Trump has been irrationally railing against wind power ever since 11 turbines were proposed for construction alongside his Aberdeenshire golf course in Scotland in the early 2010s. It ruined the view, he groused. For the past 15 years, he’s waged a crusade against wind power.

Of course, wind farms have nothing to do with national failure. In 2024, Denmark relied on wind for 56 percent of its electricity; Sweden, 31 percent; and Germany, 30 percent. Germany generates more of its electricity from wind and solar than from fossil fuels.

At a rally in Michigan on Monday, Trump told the crowd, “I've done more for you than your parents, okay? Your parents are good. I'm not gonna knock your parents, but I have been better to you than your parents. That I can tell you. And they would agree with me."

The only thing more bizarre than the comment was that no one in the audience yelled at him to defend their parents. Not a very family-friendly crowd.

At a “Concert for Peace” that Pope Leo staged, a choir of children from Uganda, Italy, and the Middle East sang Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” in three languages—English, Italian, and Arabic.

That’s quite moving. But it’s long been debated whether Cohen’s popular song is, shall we say, church-worthy. The lyrics blend cynicism and doubt about love with biblical allusions and add a dash of eroticism. The hallelujah Cohen sings of is “cold” and “broken,” not a joyous celebration of faith. But the song is a masterpiece. And who are we to quibble with the pope about its spiritual value?

Theron Snell wrote in about the issue on Trump’s ridiculous attempt to start a new Red Scare:

Spot on. Importantly, using the term “communism” appeals to the ignorant who do not distinguish between the left, communism, socialism etc. Stephen Miller et. al. are simply Red-baiting, counting upon the ignorant to see red. This tactic worked well in the late 1920s and early 1930s in Germany: The middle class was convinced. Let's see if this old trick works.

Olivia Koppell shared this concern:

Your letter really has me worried. I might not feel as bad if I thought people had learned about all this in school, but I fear that is not the case. I guarantee that if you stopped people under 40, certainly under 30 years old, and asked them about Joe McCarthy and the Red Scare, you would get a blank stare. And in any in-depth conversation about WWI or WWII, fascism in the 1930s, or even Vietnam understanding would not be forthcoming. Schools aren’t doing their jobs unless STEM is the subject. And social media is the anti-education platform. So I am afraid your warning won’t register, and that is what they (Miller/Bannon) are counting on; and why I am afraid they will succeed. We have to do something else to explain what is going on and what will happen to this country. And that will require everyone with a public platform to speak in plain English and explain it. And of course the media needs to somehow find their integrity and/or balls to do their jobs. They and Congress have been AWOL long enough. I am as angry as I am worried.

I understand the concern. But perhaps there’s a flip side here. I wonder if the communist charge is stale and lacks the potency it had in decades past. Perhaps it won't resonate with younger folks, if only because it’s so detached from their own experiences.

A friend wrote:

What bothers me is that we keep identifying all the outrages, but the outrages don’t stop coming. Are we all still in our own echo chamber, like the last several election cycles, and the people who need to understand (the 40 percent who don’t vote), still aren’t getting these facts? You, Heather Cox Richardson, Robert Reich, etc., all great, keep reporting the truth (which needs to be documented), but we are still losing. I feel like our only hope is that the fascists keep making it worse and worse for everyone, until the 40 percent joins the rest of us. And by then we probably will still need the military to restore a democratic government. Sorry to take your time with this depressing rant on a beautiful Sunday morning.

I see the point. But it's important to keep sounding the alarm, even if only to bear witness among ourselves. But, also, that does have the potential to permeate a small slice of those who otherwise might not be paying attention. After all, Trump's poll numbers are historically low. Independent voters have turned on him. In electoral terms, Democrats and liberals don't need 40 percent to join with them. They need closer to 20 percent—which is doable and which Trump is making easier every day. And there's nothing wrong with ranting. You can do that and still enjoy a beautiful summer's day. 

Mary Santarcangelo vented:

The New York Times article—“Trump administration admits canceling grants to states that did not vote for him”—should receive extensive and continuing investigation and coverage by responsible news organizations. Certainly much more than was accorded Hillary Clinton’s emails and Hunter Biden’s laptop. Is it going to be treated as just another blip in the news cycle? Aaaagghhh!

You’re right. Like so much else, I’m afraid it might end up a blip. If Democrats controlled a house of Congress, they could initiate an investigation, which would draw media attention. Short of that, there are just too many outrages these days, and they end up distracting attention from each other. The lesson for politicians: If you’re going to be a sleazy, corrupt authoritarian, go all-out.

Stephen Blake took issue with the recent piece that looked at Trump’s standing in the polls:

Your second data point, the YouGov poll that shows most Republicans are still backing Trump, seems to conflict with your conclusion that Republican politicians are finding a serious lack of enthusiasm among voters on the right for the midterms. Are these unenthusiastic voters non-Republican Trump voters, and that accounts for the differential?

Good question. The simple explanation is that some Republicans who still support Trump are generally not enthusiastic about participating in the midterms. Many of his supporters are not consistent voters. They turn out for him more than for other Republicans, and now, though they back Trump, don't feel eager to hit the polls. Because of Iran? High prices? Or whatever? They won't vote for a Democrat. But if they don't turn out, that's a big plus for the Ds.

“Where are all the bunnies that were in our yard?”
“Yeah, Moxie, they’re not around anymore. Maybe the foxes or the Cooper’s hawks.”
“What do you mean?! What do they have to do with it?! Are you saying—”
“No, no. I think the bunnies all went to a lovely big farm.”
“Good. That’s nice for the bunnies.”