Did Anthony Fauci state in August 2023 that "all unvaccinated citizens must be locked down this winter"? No, that's not true: Lead Stories watched the entire interview where this quote supposedly originated and found no such statement. Furthermore, no credible evidence or news reports exist that attribute the purported quote to the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). The website where this claim appeared has a reputation for publishing fabricated and inaccurate content.
The claim originated in a post published by The People's Voice on August 23, 2023, (archived here) titled "Fauci Declares That ALL Unvaccinated Citizens Must Be Locked Down This Winter." An introduction to the post read:
Anthony Fauci has reemerged from retirement and urged the Biden administration to implement a 'strict lockdown' this winter for all unvaccinated Americans.
The disgraced government bureaucrat appeared at a university virtual event recently titled, 'Pandemic Lessons and Role of Faculty in Pandemic Preparedness with Dr. Anthony Fauci.'
During the appearance Fauci made it clear that he supports locking down and punishing those in society who are not yet vaccinated.
Below is how the post appeared at the time of this publication:
(Source: The People's Voice screenshot taken on Weds18:36:00 UTC 2023)
Contrary to the headline, at no point in the article was it reported that Fauci stated verbatim that "unvaccinated citizens must be locked down this winter." Lead Stories also watched the nearly 42-minute-long interview where the quote was reported to have originated and determined that Fauci never explicitly stated the claims made in the above article.
The People's Voice article linked to a Dossier.today article titled "Fauci declares lockdowns were 'absolutely justified' and suggests they should be used again to force vaccinations" that was published on August 22, 2023, (archived here).
Both of the articles above included a link to a genuine recorded livestream titled "Pandemic Lessons and Role of Faculty in Pandemic Preparedness with Dr. Anthony Fauci" published on YouTube on August 15, 2023, (archived here) by Wayne State University in Michigan. A description with the video read:
Fireside Coffee Chat with Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Teena Chopra, Assistant Dean of Coaching and Professional Development. During this 40-minute coffee chat, you will learn about lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic and how faculty can be more engaged in pandemic preparedness.
Lead Stories watched the 41:19-minute recording. At no point did Fauci state that "all unvaccinated citizens must be locked down this winter." In fact, there was no mention of the words "winter," "unvaccinated" or "citizens" in the video.
There is no verifiable evidence or credible source that supports the assertion that Fauci said this or that the statement attributed to him is a close paraphrase of something said by the former presidential chief medical advisor.
A Google News search using keywords central to this article yielded no results to substantiate its claim. If such claims had been made by Fauci, it would have been considered a significant news event and returned reliable news reports.
About The People's Voice
The People's Voice is among the most prolific online publishers of fake news. It has published numerous phony news articles, so anything it publishes should be heeded with caution. Its Facebook page, "The People's Voice," lost its verification checkmark, according to a 2018 report from Media Matters For America.
Other Lead Stories debunks of claims in The People's Voice articles are here.
