I’m sorry. I like Fauci as much as the next person but this is bullshit:
In a heated exchange, Rep. David B. McKinley (R-W.Va.) asked Fauci about the Trump administration’s belated guidance to Americans to wear face coverings to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
In late March, McKinley noted, the administration was advising the public that there was still no consensus on whether masks were effective.
“Do you now regret not advising people more forcefully to wear masks earlier?” McKinley asked.
Fauci did not appear to be pleased with the question.
“Okay, we’re going to play that game,” he said. “Let me explain to you what happened back then.”
After McKinley told him that only a simple “yes” or “no” was required, Fauci shot back, “No, there’s more than a yes or no, by the tone of your question. I don’t regret that, because let me explain to you what happened.”
He continued: “At that time, there was a paucity of equipment that our health-care providers needed. … We did not want to divert masks and PPE away from them to be used by the people. Now that we have enough, we recommend” wearing masks.
They weren’t straight with the American people. They could have told the truth and said that they needed the good masks for health care workers and the president could have evoked the Defense Protection Act in the very beginning to procure them. ( In any case, I can testify to the fact that they were almost impossible to get online even right at the beginning because I tried.) And at the same time they could have told everyone to cover their mouths and faces with cloth coverings,
Instead they lied and said masks would actually cause us to catch the virus because we’d all be touching our faces constantly and give it to ourselves. It caused a lot of confusion and there was enough legitimate confusion to go around at that time.
This was a mistake.