Dr. Anthony Fauci is the director of the National Institution of Allergy and Infectious Disease and Chief Medical Advisor to President Joe Biden. He has worked for over 50 years in the American public health sector, advising every president since Reagan. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Dr. Fauci was a leading figure on both Trump and Biden's coronavirus response teams.
Fauci was a regular guest on cable news, primetime television, late-night shows, and podcasts, offering his medical advice throughout the pandemic. Over time he became a politically divisive figure on the left and right regarding issues such as masks and lockdown policies.
Famously, he sparred with Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul in committee hearings over the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic and whether his department within the National Institute of Health funded gain-of-function research.
Dr. Fauci became the director of the NIAID in 1984 at the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in America. The majority of his research over the past four decades has sought to diagnose, treat, and prevent HIV/Aids, tuberculosis, Ebola, malaria, and other infectious diseases. Fauci advised President George W. Bush to sign the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), funding $90 billion for HIV/AIDS treatment, prevention, and research worldwide. In 2002, Bush awarded Dr. Fauci the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
After Biden's inauguration, Fauci became more critical of Trump, stating he felt liberated to speak about science without fearing censorship from the new administration. Since then, he has vowed to resign if Trump gets reelected in 2024. Moreover, he is a significant advocate for Covid-19 vaccinations and booster shots. In 2021, Dr. Fauci announced he believed the country should seriously consider enforcing a vaccine mandate for domestic air travel, a policy the Biden administration had previously rejected at the time of Fauci's comments. Dr. Fauci is one of the highest-paid members of the federal workforce.
