Tony's Diary Package — page 78

r day, (0 ship ree CNN. "We didn't know Doughnuts bearing the likeness of Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, rest on a plate at Donuts Delite in Rochester, N.Y., on March 25. (Shawn Dowd/Rochester Democrat & Chronicle/AP) By Antonia Noori Farzan March 31, 2020 at 5:15 a.m. EDT Early last week, Nick Semeraro wanted to find a way to honor Anthony S. Fauci. As the owner of a small doughnut shop in Rochester, N.Y., he had been closely tracking the latest news about the coronavirus pandemic. And night after night, he'd been impressed by how Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, approached the crisis in a calm, knowledgeable manner. So, as a tribute, Semeraro put the renowned immunologist's face on a doughnut. Expecting to sell a few hundred, he was shocked when the store sold out day after day, with thousands flying off the shelves. Donuts Delite was besieged with requests to ship the buttercream-frosted creations all over the country, and one Fauci fan drove three hours just to pick up a dozen. Soon, bakeries in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania followed suit, using edible paper to decorate pastries with Fauci's likeness. "We had no idea it was going to blow up this big," Semeraro told CNN. "We didn't know everyone else felt the same way we did." While Fauci was already a respected scientist before the outbreak, his appearances during White House press briefings have made him a household name and an unlikely celebrity. With his straightforward demeanor and willingness to contradict President Trump, he's begun to develop the same kind of cult following as Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and former special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, who inspired countless "Plank like RBG" tank tops and a bizarre illustrated children's book, respectively. Even as whole swaths of the global economy collapse, the pandemic has created a robust cottage industry of Fauci-themed merchandise, including bottle openers, magnets and mugs. On Etsy, you can buy "Honk for Dr. Fauci" bumper stickers, prayer candles depicting "St. Fauci" and socks printed with Fauci's face. Graphic T-shirts bear slogans such as "I Need a Hero" and "In Dr. Fauci We Trust."