- Anthony Fauci has denounced the "lowlife" trolls that harass his wife and children, in a BBC interview.
- He said he didn't fear the attacks but that "it's so cowardly" for people to target his family.
- He blamed "far-right activists" for vast amounts of hostility because he disagreed with Trump.
Anthony Fauci, the White House chief medical advisor, has denounced the "lowlife" trolls that harassed his wife and children in an interview with the BBC.
He told the BBC's Disinformation Correspondent Marianna Spring that he could "compartmentalize" the hate he receives but cannot ignore the vitriolic abuse experienced by his wife and three adult daughters.
Speaking on the Americast podcast about the abuse he faces, Fauci said his wife and children were harassed after people found where they lived and their phone numbers.
"So, as far as my own safety goes, I don't let that bother me. I have good security protection. But I think it's so cowardly for people to harass people who are completely uninvolved in this, including my children." The US's top infectious disease expert called it a "manifestation of the lowlife that does that."
Despite the abuse and threats, he said he remained focused on his "responsibility to the American public."
—BBC Sounds (@BBCSounds) December 8, 2022
Fauci also highlighted the "tsunami of misinformation and disinformation stimulated and kindled by a great deal of divisiveness in the country."
Fauci became a target for misinformation, trolling, and online conspiracy theories while advising the government — first the Trump administration, then the Biden administration — on the COVID-19 pandemic.
He told Americast that disagreeing with Trump's stance on COVID-19 "generated an extraordinary amount of hostility" from "far-right" activists.
The former president was outspoken against Fauci, with Trump saying he did 'pretty much the opposite' of what his top expert had advised during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since 2020, Fauci has experienced threats to his life over his role in COVID-19 information and protection, with one man sentenced to three years in prison in August 2022 for sending death threats via emails to Fauci in August 2022.
Some of the emails sent from Thomas Patrick Connally, Jr. threatened Fauci that he and his wife, 70-year-old Christine Grady, would have their "teeth smashed out of its worthless k--- skull if you say ONE MORE WORD about 'mandatory vaccines.'"
Fauci has stood firm despite the barrages of abuse, however, telling Americast that he has no doubt that his support of lockdowns to stop the spread of COVID-19 was correct.
He argued against the approach taken by Sweden, which initially opted against introducing lockdowns.
"I would not under any circumstances adopt the Swedish model because if you look at the deaths and hospitalizations in Sweden compared to other Scandinavian countries, it's much, much worse," Fauci told Americast.