The acting director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Jay Bhattacharya, publicly accused Dr. Anthony Fauci of abusing his power during the COVID-19 pandemic. In an interview with CBS News chief correspondent Matt Gutman on Wednesday, July 30th, 2026, Bhattacharya stated, "He frankly abused the place of power that he had been given both by the media and by powerful politicians."

Bhattacharya, who also serves as director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), alleged that Fauci's "primary abuse" was shutting down scientific debate and denigrating scientists who disagreed with him, including Bhattacharya himself and many others, "simply for the sin of disagreeing with him."

During the pandemic, Bhattacharya was a professor at Stanford University School of Medicine and was publicly critical of the federal government's response, opposing lockdowns and mask mandates.

Fauci, the longtime former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), retired in 2022 after nearly four decades in the role. Over the weekend prior to the interview, a critic of Fauci named Paul released over 1,000 pages of Fauci's diary entries from his time as NIAID director during the pandemic.

In a June 2024 interview with "CBS Mornings," Fauci expressed that he believed the initial school closures were "the right thing," but acknowledged that keeping schools closed "for a year was not a good idea."

Bhattacharya also criticized Fauci for acting as if he were the head of public health in the U.S., despite leading a research institute, and accused him of attempting to intimidate dissenting scientists.

Notable Quotes

  • "He frankly abused the place of power that he had been given both by the media and by powerful politicians," Bhattacharya said.
  • Fauci "shut down scientific debate" and "denigrated scientists that disagreed with him, including myself and many, many others, simply for the sin of disagreeing with him."
  • "You know, he was the head of a research institute, he wasn't the head of public health, yet he acted as if he were the head of public health in this country," Bhattacharya added.

Sources