Trust squandered

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MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Myrna Brown.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard. When Dr. Anthony Fauci sat down to testify before Congress yesterday, he declined again and again to answer lawmakers’ questions. It was a sharp contrast for the man who had much to say during the pandemic. And WORLD Commentator Cal Thomas says it does the American people a disservice.

CAL THOMAS: We are born with an ego, from a baby’s first cry to our death. Most people learn to control it. Some give it free rein, and the fallout can be substantial.

This is not a partisan disease. I wrote recently about President Trump’s performance at the retooled White House Correspondents’ Dinner, where his insults were crude, personal, and beneath the office he holds. Even people who agree with many of his policies, as I do, can grow tired of the language and the self-focus.

So the president certainly comes to mind when the subject is ego. But this week, we have another example: Dr. Anthony Fauci, who rose to international fame during the COVID pandemic.

Thanks to Senator Rand Paul, we have more than a thousand pages of Fauci’s pandemic diary. It reveals a man with a high regard for himself: his celebrity status, his TV appearances, his place in public life.

But at Wednesday’s Senate hearing, the most revealing thing about Fauci was not what he said. It was what, again and again, he would not say.

FAUCI : On the advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer, based upon my rights under the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution.

He said that, or a version of it, around one hundred times, according to The New York Times.

Legally, invoking the Fifth Amendment is not an admission of guilt. But politically and morally, it is quite a contrast. After years of telling Americans what to do, what to close, what to wear, what to inject, and whom to trust, the man who became the face of the science chose the language of legal self-protection.

Before leaving office, President Biden pre-emptively pardoned Fauci. It covered actions through January 19, 2025, but not new statements made under oath. So his lawyers may have had reason to tell him to remain silent.

That does not mean the American people should be satisfied.

Senator Paul asked Fauci whether American taxpayers funded risky research in China, whether American inspectors were present in the labs, and whether Fauci still believes gain-of-function research is worth the risk.

PAUL: Would you like to at least answer this one question for us today and let us know whether or not you’ve changed your mind on whether the benefits of gain-of-function research outweigh the risks?

FAUCI: On the advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer based upon my rights under the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution.

That may have been the most important non-answer of the day.

Americans want to know whether dangerous research was funded, whether it was properly supervised, and whether anyone in authority has learned anything.

During the pandemic, Fauci and the CDC often contradicted themselves. Schools were closed, and many students fell behind. Churches were closed, and some people were arrested for attending worship services or other gatherings. Meanwhile, Fauci sat for an InStyle magazine profile, photographed relaxing by his pool without a mask.

Senator Josh Hawley focused on that side of the Fauci story: not virology, but vanity.

HAWLEY: You could sit for InStyle magazine, but you can’t answer questions for the American people. You could sit for InStyle magazine, but you’re here taking the Fifth.

Hawley also accused Fauci of using federal employees and federal resources to pursue lucrative awards during the pandemic. Fauci declined to answer those questions, too.

HAWLEY: Somewhere along the line, it became all about you. You became a narcissist and a megalomaniac and a liar.

That is strong stuff. But Fauci’s own diary gives his critics plenty to work with. Fame rarely benefits an egotist.

The deeper issue is not whether Fauci made mistakes during a fast-moving crisis. Everyone did. The issue is whether he and other public-health officials spoke with certainty they did not possess and dismissed dissent they should have heard.

Humility would have served the country better than celebrity. That applies to presidents, scientists, senators and commentators. No one in public life is improved by self-worship.

As the old song says, Fame, if you win it, comes and goes in a minute. But trust, once lost, is much harder to recover.

For WORLD, I’m Cal Thomas.

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