Jen Psaki Makes Her Feelings For Fauci Clear Amid Email Release

It feels like we're living in an era of never-ending cries of "but the emails!" This time, the emails being referenced are Dr. Anthony Fauci's correspondence during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some people claim the emails seemingly prove Dr. Fauci was dismissive of and tried to cover up the unproven theory that COVID-19 leaked from a lab in Wuhan, China. However, the director of U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) — per the emails — had immunologist Kristian G. Andersen look into the theory, which revealed no supporting evidence, according to The Washington Post.

"I still believe the most likely origin is from an animal species to a human, but I keep an absolutely open mind that if there may be other origins of that, there may be another reason, it could have been a lab leak," Fauci told CNN's John Berman on June 3 about the criticism over his emails. "I believe if you look historically, what happens in the animal-human interface, that in fact the more likelihood is that you're dealing with a jump of species." He added, "But I keep an open mind all the time. And that's the reason why I have been public that we should continue to look for the origin."

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, meanwhile, has made her feelings about the situation — and Dr. Fauci — clear. Here's what she said after the emails were made public.

In a press briefing on June 3, Jen Psaki said that Dr. Anthony Fauci has "been an undeniable asset in our country's pandemic response." She went on to say, "But it's obviously not that advantageous for me to relitigate the substance of emails from 17 months ago. The president and the administration feel that Dr. Fauci has played an incredible role and getting the pandemic under control and being a voice to the public throughout the course of this pandemic."

Still, there are things Dr. Fauci would have done differently if he had more information available at the time. "So of course, if we knew back then that a substantial amount of transmission was asymptomatic people," he told CNN's John Berman. "If we knew that the data show that masks outside of a hospital setting actually do work when we didn't know it then. If we realize all of those things back then, of course."

Clearly, the White House is standing by Fauci's leadership, and it's just as obvious the doctor has no problem standing up for himself, too.