The Real Anthony Fauci

The Real Anthony Fauci is a 2021 book by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in which he attacks Anthony Fauci and his three decades of leadership of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. In the book, Kennedy offers misinformation about Fauci's role during the HIV epidemic and the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States and HIV/AIDS denialism and was described as "controversial" by The Guardian and Publishers Weekly.

The Real Anthony Fauci: Bill Gates, Big Pharma, and the Global War on Democracy and Public Health
AuthorRobert F. Kennedy Jr.
LanguageEnglish
SubjectsAnthony Fauci, HIV/AIDS in the United States, COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
PublisherSkyhorse Publishing
Publication date
16 November 2021
Pages480
ISBN978-1510766808

Publication

The Real Anthony Fauci is a 480 page[1] book written by anti-vaccination conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy Jr.[2] It was published by Skyhorse Publishing[3] on November 16, 2021.[4][1]

Synopsis

The book accuses American public health leader Anthony Fauci of thirty years of abuse of power, during both the HIV epidemic and the COVID-19 pandemic.[5] It includes dustjacket blurbs by Tucker Carlson, Naomi Wolf, Oliver Stone, and Alan Dershowitz.[6]

In the book, Kennedy accuses Fauci of pulling off "a historic coup d’état against Western democracy"[7] and promotes unproven COVID-19 treatments, including hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin.[8] The author shares his opinion that COVID-19 vaccines are not sufficiently safety tested,[4] and likens vaccine mandates in the United States to living under the rule of Nazi Germany.[9]

The book accuses Fauci of deliberately neglecting to use hydroxychloroquine in order to increase the number of people who would die from COVID-19.[10]

Kennedy also attacks the science of AIDS, spending over a hundred pages quoting HIV denialists such as Peter Duesberg who question the isolation of HIV and the etiology of AIDS.[11] Kennedy refers to the "orthodoxy that HIV alone causes AIDS",[1]: 348  and the "theology that HIV is the sole cause of AIDS",[1]: 351  as well as repeating the HIV/AIDS denialist claim that no one has isolated the HIV particle and "No one has been able to point to a study that demonstrates their hypothesis using accepted scientific proofs".[1]: 348 

Critical reception
Copies of the book for sale in 2023

The book has sold over one million copies[12] and remained a New York Times best seller for seventeen weeks.[6] Noting Kennedy's concern about the safety of vaccines, the Associated Press pointed out the Food and Drug Administration's three phases of testing.[4]

Both The Guardian[2] and Publishers Weekly described the book as controversial.[3] Newsweek described the book as "inflammatory".[13] Democratic party State Senator Will Brownsberger described the book as promoting a conspiracy.[14][10] Medical doctor Theodore Dalrymple accused Kennedy of paranoia, and criticized his writing for containing contradictions, absurdity, falsehoods, needless exaggerations, and seeing "conspiracy everywhere" while lacking objectivity. Dalrymple's fact checking of five scientific papers cited in the book led him to conclude that Kennedy had interpreted each of them incorrectly and therefore misled readers.[15]

Molecular biologist and science communicator Dan Wilson devoted seven episodes of his Debunk the Funk video series to refuting claims in the book.[16] Wilson concludes that Kennedy is a "full blown" HIV/AIDS denialist who makes "disgusting, hateful, and wrong claims."[17][18]

Infectious disease specialist Michael Osterholm says that Kennedy's anti-vaccine disinformation is effective “because it’s portrayed to the public with graphs and figures and what appears to be scientific data. He has perfected the art of illusion of fact.” Osterholm also adds "this is about people’s lives. And the consequences of promoting this kind of disinformation, as credible as it may seem, is simply dangerous.”[19]

In the National Review, journalist Matthew Scully wrote "With courtroom standards of proof — everything cited and sourced to government databases and to peer-reviewed publications — Kennedy details egregious wrongdoing and raises entirely legitimate questions about the workings of the federal health bureaucracy during Covid and long before."[20]

Film

In 2022, Kala Mandrake directed the 111-minute film The Real Anthony Fauci. The Radio Times categorised the film as "crime/detective | fantasy".[21] The film features Kennedy.[22]

See also

References
  1. "The Real Anthony Fauci". Skyhorse Publishing. Archived from the original on 2023-05-02. Retrieved 2023-06-05.
  2. Helmore, Edward (2022-01-27). "Tony Lyons, the US publisher who picks up books 'cancelled' by other presses". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 2023-05-31. Retrieved 2023-06-05.
  3. Milliot |, Jim. "Coalition Wants S&S to Not Distribute 'The Real AIDS Epidemic'". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on 2023-03-25. Retrieved 2023-06-05.
  4. "How a Kennedy built an anti-vaccine juggernaut amid COVID-19". AP NEWS. 2021-12-15. Archived from the original on 2021-12-18. Retrieved 2023-06-05.
  5. "The bestselling books in Canada for the week ending Jan. 26, 2022". thestar.com. 2022-01-26. Archived from the original on 2022-02-14. Retrieved 2023-06-05.
  6. Sánchez, Lily; Robinson, Nathan J. (2023-05-18). "Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is a Lying Crank Posing as a Progressive Alternative to Biden". Current Affairs. ISSN 2471-2647. Archived from the original on 2023-05-30. Retrieved 2023-06-05.
  7. Kilgore, Ed (2023-05-26). "Do RFK Jr.'s Supporters Really Know Who He Is?". Intelligencer. Archived from the original on 2023-05-27. Retrieved 2023-06-05.
  8. Price, Michael L. (2023-04-06). "Anti-vaccine activist RFK Jr. challenging Biden in 2024". CTV News. Archived from the original on 2023-04-13. Retrieved 2023-06-05.
  9. Dovere, Edward-Isaac (2023-04-16). "Robert F. Kennedy Jr. can't count on family support to take on Biden | CNN Politics". CNN. Archived from the original on 2023-05-31. Retrieved 2023-06-05.
  10. "Simon & Schuster will distribute Jan. 6 report with foreword by conspiracy theorist". Mother Jones. Archived from the original on 2022-12-01. Retrieved 2023-06-05.
  11. Wilson, Dan (May 31, 2022). RFK Jr. Goes full HIV/AIDS denial in his terrible book about Anthony Fauci. Archived from the original on May 20, 2023. Retrieved May 20, 2023 – via YouTube.
  12. Scully, Matthew (May 16, 2023). "The Real Robert F. Kennedy Jr". National Review. Archived from the original on 2023-05-26. Retrieved 2023-06-05.
  13. McDade, Aaron (January 4, 2022). "Norman Mailer Anthology Finds New Publisher After Random House Declines". Newsweek. Archived from the original on 2023-05-22. Retrieved 2023-06-05.
  14. ""The Real Anthony Fauci" – Will Brownsberger". 2022-01-09. Archived from the original on 2023-05-22. Retrieved 2023-06-05.
  15. Dalrymple, Theodore (Summer 2022). "What's up Doc?". Claremont Review of Books. Vol. 22, no. 3. pp. 68–69. Retrieved June 8, 2023.
  16. Wilson, Dan (2022). Reviewing "The Real Anthony Fauci". Debunk the Funk. Retrieved 2023-06-07.
  18. Wilson, Dan, Reviewing RFK Jr.'s bad book about Fauci - Introduction, event occurs at 17:18, retrieved 2023-09-28
  19. Bergengruen, Vera (2023-06-14). "Inside the Very Online Campaign of RFK Jr". Time. Retrieved 2023-06-14.
  20. Scully, Matthew (May 16, 2023). "The Real Robert F. Kennedy Jr". National Review. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
  21. "The Real Anthony Fauci (2022)". Radio Times. Retrieved 2023-06-05.
  22. "The Real Anthony Fauci (2022)". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on 2023-05-06. Retrieved 2023-06-05.
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