Tony's Diary Package — page 175

,400,000/82,000 Mark Meadows called this AM (7:15 AM) before the HELP Hearing checking on how I was and thanking me for "taking flak from both sides". He is a good guy, but I think that the call was prompted somewhat by a NY Times story this AM (Sheryl Gay Stolberg) that reported my saying to Sheryl when she asked what I hope to accomplish at the Hearing, I said to let people know that they must be careful in opening the country and not go too fast or prematurely since we risk the problem of rebound. Hearing went well by virtual. I was in my home office. Had a little scuffle with Rand Paul who said that I am not the end all and be all to close down the country. I went back at him and tweets said I came out way on top. Received 2 packages of cookies from Joe and Jill Biden with note: "You are our hero. Stay strong and healthy. We need you". VOX did a mini-history of me: https://bit.ly/2WrCa4w May 13, 2020 - Global - 4,100,000/285,000; USA - 1,400,000/82,000 Press today and yesterday afternoon reporting heavily on the Senate Hearing from yesterday. Playing up that I am the voice of reason. However, I am obviously causing conern among GOP who want to open quickly. FOX News blasting me - Hannity, Carlson, Ingraham. See Politico piece about GOP getting "Fauci Fatigue: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/12/anthony-fauci-republicans-coronavirus251919 Had a wonderful Instagram discussion organized by the ONE Campaign with Julia Roberts. She was absolutely fabulous. She embarrassed me somewhat when I sat down in the chair and appeared on the screen through Zoom, she put her hands in front of her mouth and said "Oh my God. It's Dr. Fauci, he is here." Then she went on to say that I was he personal hero and how happy she was to have this conversation with me. We discussed COVID-19 and its potential impact on the developing world. I told her that we have a moral responsibility to help and also we have enlightened self-interest in that if the outbreak continues in the developing world, it will always be a threat to the rest of the world. Also, we discussed the importance of including the developing world in the vaccine trials and accessibility of vaccine. She was totally down to earth. Great experience!!