Meet The Republicans Who Sided With Anthony Fauci To Shut Down The Country

July 27, 2026 6:10 PM ET Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul released Dr. Anthony Fauci’s personal diary Sunday, offering a behind-the-scenes look at the first Trump administration officials who aligned with Fauci as the country shut down during COVID-19.The diary entries portray an administration divided over lockdowns, school closures and messaging, with several Republican officials backing the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director’s efforts to maintain sweeping public health restrictions while sidelining dissenting voices. (RELATED: Fauci’s Own Diary Undercuts His Public Dismissal Of COVID Lab Leak)One of the officials who backed the public health bureaucrat was Hope Hicks, a counselor to the president and former White House communications director, whom Fauci de