Imagine this:    

For two and a half years—1929 to late 1931—Elliot Ness and his special unit known as “The Untouchables” conduct Intensive operations, surveillance and brewery raids against the criminal empire of Al “Scarface” Capone. 

Six years later, a Senate subcommittee subpoenas Ness and brutally grills him on how his unit carried out those raids:

“Why did you target Al Capone—did you have something personal against him?”

“You never did convict him, did you? That was done by the IRS for tax evasion.”

“Capone was just a businessman. He never hurt anybody.”

“Your unit is famous for not taking bribes. Wasn’t Capone offering enough?”

“There’s no such thing as a Mafia.” 

Imagine, also, how such a brutal attack on a celebrated lawman would have damaged the morale of countless other lawmen—and would-be lawmen.

Elliot Ness

So it’s easy to imagine how Republicans’ brutal attack on Anthony Fauci affects current members of the medical profession—and would-be members of it. 

Fauci is an American physician-scientist and immunologist who served as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infections Diseases (NIAID) from 1984 to 2022 and as Chief Medical Advisor to the President–—Joseph Biden––from 2021 to 2022. 

So what did this man—who has dedicated his entire adult life to protecting Americans against infectious diseases—do to ignite such hatred?

He had merely spoken the hard medical truth about Coronavirus. In doing so, he had at times contradicted then-President Donald Trump’s ignorance- and lie-riddled statements.

For example: Trump had loudly touted hydroxychloroquine, used for treating malaria, as a miracle cure for the Coronavirus.

Yet Fauci dared to point out there had been no scientific trials of the drug for its effectiveness against Coronavirus. Moreover, given the medical condition of some patients, it could even prove fatal.

Statements like this infuriated Trump’s base of—at best—half-educated fans.

Donald Trump

On July 31, Susan Glasser, a journalist who writes a column for The New Yorker, appeared on Washington Week, a PBS public affairs television program.

Commenting on the “death match” between Fauci and Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), Glasser said: “Yes. I mean, look, the historical analogy that leaps to mind is not a reasonable bipartisan commission to look at lessons learned from a national tragedy. It’s a witch hunt. It’s McCarthyism.

“You know, we do, unfortunately, have a long history of that as well. And to see an 85-year-old public servant who spent 50 years of his life combating terrible diseases in this country and around the world, you know, it was a painful sight.

“You know, especially to see a bunch of senators accuse Fauci of the best they could come up with, you know, was a diary in which he was dazzled, you know, to meet celebrities and, you know, admitted that he butt-dialed Barbra Streisand….

“The person who was accountable ultimately for America’s failed initial handling of the pandemic in 2020 was someone named Donald Trump.” 

Susan Glasser

During 2020—the last year of the first Trump administration and the worst year of COVID—Trump offered 11 different steps for defeating COVID-19:

1. Denial: COVID entered the United States on January 19. By January 27, Trump didn’t think the virus had spread widely throughout the United States.
2. Lies: On January 22, Trump said “We have it totally under control. It’s one person coming in from China.” By March 10, he was saying: “It will go away. Just stay calm. It will go away.” 
3. Republican subservience to Trump’s denial and lies:  During the vital months of January and February, Republicans refused to challenge Trump’s unwillingness to take the virus seriously—before it gained a foothold in the United States.
4. Chaos:  Like Adolf Hitler, Trump likes to pit individuals and organizations against each other. This creates needless duplication of efforts and wastes resources. But it ensures that Trump—like Hitler—remains the final voice of authority, since so many others are competing for his favor and direction.
5. Extortion: Trump and Republicans used a deadly plague as a weapon against those Americans they hate. This included seizing medical supplies slated for Democratic states and sending them to Republican ones.
6. Propaganda Disguised as News: Since Easter weekend, President Donald Trump held almost 50 daily press briefings at the White House. Their purpose: To serve as a substitute for Trump’s hate-filled political rallies, which had been canceled and have been likened to those staged by Germany’s Fuhrer, Adolf Hitler, at Nuremberg.
7. Quackery as Medicine: On April 23, Trump raised the possibility of preventing or curing the Coronavirus by use of ultraviolet light—or even injection of disinfectant.
8. “Reopen the Country”: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) urged Americans to wear masks and keep at least six feet from their fellows. And most of the nation’s governors issued stay-at-home orders that banned large gatherings—including visits to parks and beaches. Yet Trump openly encouraged defiance of those orders. 
9. Ignore the Danger:  Although health experts expressed fears about large gatherings during the Coronavirus pandemic, Trump and his Republican allies—such as South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem—held tightly-packed, mask-free political rallies.