October 9, 2020

Dr. Fauci Confirms It: The White House Celebration of Amy Coney Barrett Was a “Superspreader Event”

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In an interview with CBS News, Dr. Anthony Fauci stated plainly what many people had suspected: The largely mask-free gathering at the White House to celebrate Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the Supreme Court was a “superspreader event.”

After Fauci explained to CBS’s Steven Portnoy the importance of wearing masks given that asymptomatic people can spread the virus, Portnoy pointed that the White House’s prevention strategy relied on routine testing rather than mask usage. “What did we learn about the efficacy of that strategy in terms of preventing the spread of coronavirus?” he asked.

“Well, I think the data speak for themselves,” Fauci replied. “We had a superspreader event in the White House, and it was in a situation where people were crowded together and were not wearing masks.”

In the interview, Fauci also said that Trump’s repeated use of the word “cure” to refer to the therapeutic treatments he’d received could lead to “confusion.” “I think you really have to depend on what you mean by a ‘cure,'” he said. “We have good treatments for people with advanced disease who are in the hospital.”

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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