NIAID Director Becomes Folk Hero

Ben Weinstein of Bethesda models a mask featuring the image of NIAID director Dr. Anthony Fauci

Photo: JOSEPH MCMANUS

Ben Weinstein of Bethesda models a mask featuring the image of NIAID director Dr. Anthony Fauci, who has become the government’s principal scientific spokesperson on the novel coronavirus pandemic. A sudden icon of American popular culture, Fauci has recently been played by Brad Pitt on Saturday Night Live, had a best-selling bobblehead doll named after him, appeared on donuts and pastries and been featured on the Fauci Pouchy, a line of take-out cocktails marketed by a local restaurant.