Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul released Dr. Anthony Fauci’s personal diary Sunday, offering a behind-the-scenes look at the first Trump administration officials who aligned with Fauci as the country shut down during COVID-19.
The diary entries portray an administration divided over lockdowns, school closures and messaging, with several Republican officials backing the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director’s efforts to maintain sweeping public health restrictions while sidelining dissenting voices.
One of the officials who backed the public health bureaucrat was Hope Hicks, a counselor to the president and former White House communications director, whom Fauci described as “very nice” after their first meeting in March 2020.
Fauci soon wrote that Hicks appeared to view him as a “future ally” after seeming uncomfortable with Trump’s desire for the COVID-19 team to hold two press briefings a day to boost morale and the economy through public transparency.
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