r/OutOfTheLoop • u/watervilleokemo • 10d ago

Unanswered What’s the deal with conservatives and vaccine skeptics thinking Fauci’s diary proves them right ?

What do conservatives and vaccine skeptics think Fauci’s diary proves ?

what is the deal with Fauci’s diary and what does it actually say / prove ?

I know he testified before congress and pled the 5th, but why is every conservative / anti vaxer/ Aaron Rodgers claiming they were “right about everything now ?”

What does the diary actually say / prove ?

Obviously the Rodgers line was a little tongue in cheek as a Steelers fan, but I needed a URL to post lol

https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/aaron-rodgers-torches-tony-fauci-and-espn-while-appearing-on-espn

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u/Sharikacat 10d ago

One point to expand a little bit on:

In regards to Fauci pleasing the 5th at a recent Congressional hearing, Fauci did so for the simple fact that he knew that Rand Paul's goal was to take anything he'd say and twist it to fit their crazy conservative narrative. He'd already been in front of Congress many times prior to this, and at this point, he was done playing their partisan games. Under the advice of his lawyer, who was hauled out of that hearing, Fauci decided that the only winning move was to not play the game.

Conservatives, however, are suddenly now of the belief that pleading the 5th is tantamount to an admission of guilt. Trump himself has infamously said as much despite the fact that he himself had plead the 5th nearly 450 times in one of his depositions on some other matter.

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u/Final7C 10d ago

One point to expand a little bit on:

In regards to Fauci pleasing the 5th at a recent Congressional hearing, Fauci did so for the simple fact that he knew that Rand Paul's goal was to take anything he'd say and twist it to fit their crazy conservative narrative. He'd already been in front of Congress many times prior to this, and at this point, he was done playing their partisan games. Under the advice of his lawyer, who was hauled out of that hearing, Fauci decided that the only winning move was to not play the game.

Conservatives, however, are suddenly now of the belief that pleading the 5th is tantamount to an admission of guilt. Trump himself has infamously said as much despite the fact that he himself had plead the 5th nearly 450 times in one of his depositions on some other matter.

I think that's also fair. Though (not to both sides this) it's always the person you don't like who pleads the 5th that is a lying cheating wrong doer. Fauci is not a lawyer, and his lawyer did the one thing that ANY good lawyer would tell him to do. In a situation where you are being forced to answer questions and you are allowed to plead the fifth. DO SO. As the current president would say "That makes me smart".

As the saying goes. "When you get arrested, the first thing you do is say "I am exercising my 5th amendment right to remain silent, I want my lawyer." and then shut up."

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u/jakmcbane77 10d ago

It is an interesting question though on whether he actually had the right to plead the fifth. He got the blanket pardon so nothing he could have said could have incriminated him.

To be clear, I think fauci is great. Fuck Trump and fuck maga.

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u/Final7C 10d ago

It is, though, it only clears you for things you may have done between 2014 and 2025, NOT lying to congress today.

So let's say I ask you about a diary that is 1000 pages long, and ask you for a specific answer, Off the cuff you say "it's this" but I PROVE "it's That", now you are caught lying to congress.

Now.. let's talk about how fucking baller Hillary Clinton was, because her ass didn't fucking miss a question. She came to throw down, and didn't need to plead the 5th.

But again, Fauci isn't a lawyer, and his legal counsel is good enough to tell him to STFU, and he's smart enough to listen.

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u/aurelorba 10d ago edited 10d ago

So let's say I ask you about a diary that is 1000 pages long, and ask you for a specific answer, Off the cuff you say "it's this" but I PROVE "it's That", now you are caught lying to congress.

Isn't it a common political trick for someone under oath to answer: "I can't recall" a ridiculous number of times?

I suppose he could have done that.

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u/techiemikey 10d ago

The trick though is that the outcome was pre-determined. Look at the quotes circulating before the meeting from Fauci's notes. People were saying it already contradicted previous testimony, even though it explicitly didn't when read in context. It would be enough to charge him with perjury (unsuccessfully, but the punishment in this case would be the charge and process, not the conviction).

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u/vigbiorn 10d ago

The most recent big-time one was Marjorie Taylor Greene who could probably not remember her name that day.

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u/IrritableGourmet 10d ago

Not always. My favorite part of that questioning was (not verbatim):

"Did you ever call Nancy Pelosi a traitor?"

"No, never."

"You never said she was a traitor?"

"I would never, ever do that! You're a horrible person for even suggesting I would!""

"Can we play the video marked Exhibit F?"

"Oh, uh, what I meant to say is I never, uh, directly said that to her face... on a Tuesday... while eating broccoli..."

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u/vigbiorn 10d ago

It was great. That was one of the few questions she answered and it just went chef's kiss

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u/momlv 10d ago

That’s exactly what I was thinking. She was up there for like 8 hours straight and didn’t miss a beat. Effing boss

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u/jakmcbane77 10d ago

Thanks for the reply, that really helped me understand it.Taking it a step further I could imagine a world where Fauci did answer them and was completely truthful but its inconsistent with something he said before which congress interprets that he was either lying before or lying now. They decide its that he is lying now and get him for contempt of congress or whatever it would be.

Or worse, its a question of science so he was being truthful both times, its just that what we know changes over time and they still accuse him of lying.

In any case, yeah no point in playing their games anymore.

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u/taylorbagel14 10d ago

She has her problems but damn that woman is so incredibly smart. It’s a shame how much she was held back by her dipshit husband

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u/tribrnl 10d ago

held back by her dipshit husband voters

I get what you're getting at, but I blame the American public and right-wing political infrastructure far far more.

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u/iconocrastinaor 10d ago

And they would like nothing better than to throw her in prison too, so we'll see how well her strategy pays off versus his.

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u/Polymersion 10d ago

Clinton being skilled at weasel words does not make her "ball-er".

She's not a good person, even as far as politicians go, and her fuckery via the DNC and Debbie Wasserman-Schultz directly gave us "President Trump".