Tipsheet

Fauci: 'I Didn’t Recommend Locking Anything Down' During COVID

Spencer Brown
Spencer Brown  |  July 26, 2022 10:25 AM

In an interview Monday on The HillTV's Rising, Dr. Anthony Fauci claimed that he "didn't recommend locking anything down" through the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. Fauci is, of course, free to claim what he wants and spin history however he pleases, but he's not entitled to his own facts. 

In no particular order, here are 9 times Dr. Fauci made public statements that included recommending or affirming lockdown and closure decisions due to COVID-19.

1. Told then-President Trump to shut down the entire country - October 6, 2020

"When it became clear that we had community spread in the country, with a few cases of community spread — this was way before there was a major explosion like we saw in the Northeastern corridor driven by New York City metropolitan area — I recommended to the president that we shut the country down," Fauci told students at his alma mater when asked about the most crucial decision he'd made. "Unfortunately, since we actually did not shut down completely the way China did, the way Korea did, the way Taiwan did, we actually did see spread even though we shut down."

2. Gave "his blessing" for Bill de Blasio's plan to extend the closure of New York City schools - April 12, 2020

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"Mayor Bill de Blasio made the momentous decision to keep New York City’s 1,800 public schools closed through the end of June. He told just a select few, including Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the country’s top infectious disease expert, who gave his blessing," reported The New York Times. 

3. Attacked Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for considering reopening schools - April 10, 2020

"'If you have a situation where you don’t have a real good control over an outbreak and you allow children together, they will likely get infected,' said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, during the daily news briefing of the White House coronavirus task force," POLITICO reported. 

4. Said schools should stay closed to prevent the spread of COVID while endorsing remote learning - August 4, 2020

"There may be some areas where the level of virus is so high that it would not be prudent to bring children back to school," Fauci said. 

5. Called for bars to be closed when he finally said schools should be open - August 13, 2020

"You have a choice — either close the bars or close the schools. Because, if you have people congregating in bars, it's likely you're going to stay red," Fauci said in a line that he repeated again in November 2020 on ABC News' World News Tonight.

6. Said states should shut down depending on the level of COVID spread - July 9, 2020

"Any state that is having a serious problem, that state should seriously look at shutting down," Fauci said without singling any state out because, according to Fauci, "[i]t’s not for me to say because each state is different," according to CNBC. 

7. Agreed with MSNBC's Chris Hayes that bars and restaurants should stay closed - September 17, 2020

"I totally agree" Fauci said to Hayes when the "All In" host said that closing bars and restaurants helped states tamp down the spread of COVID. "Bars are a really important place of spreading of infection. There’s no doubt about that. And that becomes particularly important if you happen to be in an area where there’s a high degree of community spread," Fauci said. 

8. Supported school closures as form of disease "mitigation" - March 12, 2020

"The one thing I do advise and I said this in multiple hearings and multiple briefings, that right now we have to start implementing both containment and mitigation. And what was done when you close the schools is mitigation," Fauci said outside the White House.

9. Told California cities they didn't have a choice but to lock down again - December 7, 2020

"I have been in discussion with the health authorities from the state of California who called me and asked, you know, they said 'We feel we need to do this — what do you think?' and I said, you know you really don't have any choice," Fauci explained on CNN of the lockdown orders that he said "absolutely" made sense to him.

Fauci's previous statements be damned, apparently, as the guidance and recommendations he made over the last two years are now inconvenient to the historical record of how the pandemic was handled by the "experts." Just as Dr. Deborah Birx has been dashing about working to revise the past, Fauci is trying to fix the problems he created by denying they ever existed. While new information did present itself through the course of the last few years and guidance changed, Fauci's blanket statement that he "didn't recommend locking anything down" is untrue.