The Anthony Fauci diary has proven to be a treasure trove of exposing, among many other things, the very close relations between Fauci and the media that was supposedly covering him. Apparently it turned out that they went beyond covering him to the realm of covering up for him to the extent that they were unable to tolerate any criticism of Fauci.
One of the big examples of Fauci's comfy relationship with the media was the coverage/coverup of him by CNN's Jake Tapper to the extent that he got as nasty in 2020 over criticism of Fauci in the Trump White House, specifically by Trade Adviser Peter Navarro, as he was when snapping at Lara Trump in the same year for suggesting that Joe Biden suffered from cognitive decline.
Here is the segment from the July 15, 2020 edition of The Lead in which a highly agitated Jake Tapper went full snarl at the very idea that his beloved Anthony Fauci could be subjected to criticism.
Here are a few lowlights of Tapper's pompous lecturing:
We begin today with the politics lead. The White House war on science and medicine has only gotten worse. But, today, the nation's top infectious disease expert is punching back, amid new attacks from the White House, or, more specifically, from Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro, who wrote in a "USA Today" op-ed that Dr. Fauci has been wrong about every coronavirus issue they have discussed, a claim that seems quite difficult to believe for any sentient being who has been following this story.
...That's Dr. Fauci being characteristically diplomatic.
Let me not be diplomatic.
The White House campaign to undermine Dr. Fauci is dishonest, it's disgusting, it's deranged. And at a time of a deadly pandemic, it is the ultimate in irresponsibility. Literally, more than 136,000 Americans are dead because of this virus, and, instead of an aggressive national testing and contact tracing program, the White House is instead launching an aggressive smear campaign against the guy trying to save our lives.
...And let's also just remember the context of this is that President Trump has misused science and scientific agencies in order to push forward lies, for whatever reason.
A perusal of Fauci's diary reveals the over-the-top close relationship between him and Tapper which helps explain the extreme unprofessional bias exhibited in the clip above. Examples of the Tapper-Fauci chumminess appear multiple times in the diary. Here are a but a few diary excerpts:
April 13, 2020: Phone call with Jake Tapper. Jake wanted to make sure the interview did not cause me any problems.
April 26, 2020: Deb was on CNN with Jake Tapper and did not answer the question of whether it was a mistake for the POTUS to talk about injecting or swallowing bleach. Jake wrote me a text afterwards and said: “Birx has lost her way I fear. She has chosen to focus on defending the president and attacking the press. Odd.
July 1, 2020: Had dinner over Jake Tapper and Jen Tapper’s home in DC. Terrific couple. Friendship building.
July 26, 2020: Jake Tapper woke me up at 11:23 AM (I went to bed early) furious at POTUS for tweeting about the fact that Jake severely questioned Brett Giroir on SOTU CNN show today. Jake was really pissed at the craziness of it all.
October 23, 2020: Had dinner at my home with Jake and Jennifer Tapper. Relaxed, good time. Jake clearly believes that Trump is totally nuts.
Exit question: Will Jake and Jennifer dine again with Dr. Fauci after his testimony on Capitol Hill on Wednesday? Friendship building.
