FAUCI DIARY ARCHIVE — Saturday, April 4, 2020 https://faucisdiary.com/diary/2020-04-04 Text below is verbatim from the released PDFs, with the original line breaks. ============================================================================== DIARY ENTRY — Saturday, April 4, 2020 Source: Tony's Diary Package, pp. 89–93 of 2026.07.24_Tonys-Diary-Package.pdf Words: 1306 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Global 972600/50300; USA 277200/6600; Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas – questions about my statements recently that all states should do stay at home. He was vey nice ad wanted clarification of what that meant forTexas and was he already doing what I was saying. In fact, he was for the most part. Also, spoke with Gov. Ned Lamont of Connecticut. Same issues as Gov. Abbott Washington Post had article ridiculing Jared for his appearance at the Press conference. They are being a bit unfair. Thick politics going on fueled by POTUS ridiculous behavior of blaming people for things. He keeps talking about TV ratings of the press briefings, which fuels the press backlash at him. In Task Force meeting had a big (unusual) argument with Peter Navarro who handed out a folder that he says shows studies that Hydroxychloroquine is effective in COVID. I strenuously objected and he then attacked me saying that I was the one who was against blocked travel from China when in fact I pushed the POTUS to do so. Weird guy!! VP and Marc Short acted like Peter was nuts. See below Axios description of the “confrontation between Navarro and me: Scoop: Inside the epic White House fight over hydroxychloroquine Jonathan Swan Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images The White House coronavirus task force had its biggest fight yet on Saturday, pitting economic adviser Peter Navarro against infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci. At issue: How enthusiastically should the White House tout the prospects of an antimalarial drug to fight COVID-19? Behind the scenes: This drama erupted into an epic Situation Room showdown. Trump's coronavirus task force gathered in the White House Situation Room on Saturday at about 1:30pm, according to four sources familiar with the conversation. Vice President Mike Pence sat at the head of the table. • Numerous government officials were at the table, including Fauci, coronavirus response coordinator Deborah Birx, Jared Kushner, acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf, and Commissioner of Food and Drugs Stephen Hahn. • Behind them sat staff, including Peter Navarro, tapped by Trump to compel private companies to meet the government's coronavirus needs under the Defense Production Act. Toward the end of the meeting, Hahn began a discussion of the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine, which Trump believes could be a "game-changer" against the coronavirus. • Hahn gave an update about the drug and what he was seeing in different trials and real-world results. • Then Navarro got up. He brought over a stack of folders and dropped them on the table. People started passing them around. • "And the first words out of his mouth are that the studies that he's seen, I believe they're mostly overseas, show 'clear therapeutic efficacy,'" said a source familiar with the conversation. "Those are the exact words out of his mouth." Navarro's comments set off a heated exchange about how the Trump administration and the president ought to talk about the malaria drug, which Fauci and other public health officials stress is unproven to combat COVID-19. • Fauci pushed back against Navarro, saying that there was only anecdotal evidence that hydroxychloroquine works against the coronavirus. • Researchers have said studies out of France and China are inadequate because they did not include control groups. • Fauci and others have said much more data is needed to prove that hydroxychloroquine is effective against the coronavirus. • As part of his role, Navarro has been trying to source hydroxychloroquine from around the world. He's also been trying to ensure that there are enough domestic production capabilities inside the U.S. Fauci's mention of anecdotal evidence "just set Peter off," said one of the sources. Navarro pointed to the pile of folders on the desk, which included printouts of studies on hydroxychloroquine from around the world. • Navarro said to Fauci, "That's science, not anecdote," said another of the sources. Navarro started raising his voice, and at one point accused Fauci of objecting to Trump's travel restrictions, saying, "You were the one who early on objected to the travel restrictions with China," saying that travel restrictions don't work. (Navarro was one of the earliest to push the China travel ban.) • Fauci looked confused, according to a source in the room. After Trump imposed the travel restrictions, Fauci has publicly praised the president's restriction on travel from China. • Pence was trying to moderate the heated discussion. "It was pretty clear that everyone was just trying to get Peter to sit down and stop being so confrontational," said one of the sources. • Eventually, Kushner turned to Navarro and said, "Peter, take yes for an answer," because most everyone agreed, by that time, it was important to surge the supply of the drug to hot zones. • The principals agreed that the administration's public stance should be that the decision to use the drug is between doctors and patients. • Trump ended up announcing at his press conference that he had 29 million doses of hydroxychloroquine in the Strategic National Stockpile. Between the lines: "There has never been a confrontation in the task force meetings like the one yesterday," said a source familiar with the argument. "People speak up and there's robust debate, but there's never been a confrontation. Yesterday was the first confrontation." • In response to a request for comment on Axios' reporting, Katie Miller, a spokesperson for the vice president, said: "We don't comment on meetings in the Situation Room." The bottom line: The way to discuss the drug's potential has become a fraught issue within the Trump administration. • Most members of the task force support a cautious approach to discussing the drug until it's proven. • Navarro, on the other hand, is convinced based on his reading that the drug works against the coronavirus and speaks about it enthusiastically. • Some of Trump's favorite TV hosts, including Fox's Sean Hannity, and friends including Rudy Giuliani, have also been touting the malaria drug for the coronavirus. Trump has made no secret who he sides with. • "What do you have to lose? Take it," the president said in a White House briefing on Saturday. "I really think they should take it. But it's their choice. And it's their doctor's choice or the doctors in the hospital. But hydroxychloroquine. Try it, if you'd like." POTUS continues to ramble at presser. Prior to the presser, POTUS invited me and Deb into his inner office at the OVAL and started telling me that as a Catholic how much of a shame it would be if we did not do a classical Easter and Good Friday and Palm Sunday. He wanted to figure out how to do a version of it like outdoor mass or stay in car and do drive in theater-like mass. Hope Hicks and I convinced him to essentially put Easter on hold for this year. Then he went on and on (almost pleading) with Me (mostly) and Deb saying that he cannot keep the country closed beyond the 30-day extension. He rambled on and on that we are destroying this great country and started rattling off the names of various sports commissioners (NBA, MLB, NHL, etc.) who said that their sports would be destroyed if we did not open up. Also, he said industry (all the industrial giants) would be forever destroyed. He said that he understood where Deb and I were coming from, but he could not let the country die and so one way or another, he is opening up in 30 days. He went on and emphasized this over and over at the press conference, which immediately followed his conversation with me and Deb. PRESS: White House Press Conference – 1hr 25 minutes. I had the opportunity to push mitigation sayin that it was our ony weapon right now and I praised the HCWs saying they were true heroes.