Dr. Deborah Birx, White House coronavirus response coordinator, and National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci listen as President Trump speaks with the coronavirus task force during a briefing. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

白宮冠狀病毒應對協調員黛博拉·比爾克斯博士和國家過敏和傳染病研究所主任安東尼·福奇博士在一次簡報會上聆聽特朗普總統與冠狀病毒工作組的談話。(加賓·博茨福德/華盛頓郵報，蓋蒂圖片社)

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At a White House briefing on the coronavirus March 20, President Donald Trump called the State Department the “Deep State Department.” Behind him, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, dropped his head and rubbed his forehead.

3月20日，在白宮就冠狀病毒舉行的新聞發佈會上，川普總統稱國務院為“深度國務院”。在他身後，美國國家過敏和傳染病研究所(National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases)所長安東尼·s·福奇(Anthony S. Fauci)博士低下頭，揉了揉額頭。

Some thought Fauci was slighting the president, leading to a vitriolic online reaction. On Twitter and Facebook, a post that falsely claimed he was part of a secret cabal who opposed Trump was soon shared thousands of times, reaching roughly 1.5 million people.

一些人認為福奇忽視了總統，導致了網上的刻薄反應。在推特(Twitter)和Facebook上，一則謊稱他是反對特朗普的秘密陰謀集團成員的帖子很快被轉發了數千次，影響了大約150萬人。

A week later, Fauci — the administration’s most outspoken advocate of emergency measures to fight the coronavirus outbreak — has become the target of an online conspiracy theory that he is mobilizing to undermine the president.

一週後，弗奇——政府最直言不諱的對抗冠狀病毒爆發的緊急措施的倡導者——成為網上陰謀論的目標，他正在動員破壞總統。

That fanciful claim has spread across social media, fanned by a right-wing chorus of Trump’s supporters, even as Fauci has won a public following for his willingness to contradict the president and correct falsehoods and overly rosy pronouncements about containing the virus.

這種異想天開的說法已經在社交媒體上傳播開來，得到了特朗普的右翼支持者的一致支持，儘管福奇已經贏得了公眾的支持，因為他願意反駁總統，糾正關於遏制病毒的謊言和過於樂觀的聲明。

An analysis by The New York Times found more than 70 accounts on Twitter that have promoted the hashtag #FauciFraud, with some tweeting as frequently as 795 times a day. The anti-Fauci sentiment is being reinforced by posts from Tom Fitton, the president of Judicial Watch, a conservative group; Bill Mitchell, host of far-right online talk show “YourVoice America”; and other outspoken Trump supporters such as Shiva Ayyadurai, who has falsely claimed to be the inventor of email.

《紐約時報》的一項分析發現，推特上有70多個賬號在推廣“水龍頭欺詐”這個標籤，其中一些賬號一天發795次推。保守派團體司法觀察(Judicial Watch)總統的湯姆•菲頓(Tom Fitton)發帖，強化了反水龍頭情緒;極右翼網絡脫口秀“你的聲音美國”主持人比爾·米切爾;以及特朗普的其他直言不諱的支持者，比如希瓦·阿雅杜萊(Shiva Ayyadurai)，她謊稱自己是電子郵件的發明者。

Many of the anti-Fauci posts, some of which pointed to a seven-year-old email that the doctor had sent praising Hillary Clinton when she was secretary of state, have been retweeted thousands of times. On YouTube, conspiracy-theory videos about Fauci have racked up hundreds of thousands of views in the past week. In private Facebook groups, posts disparaging him have also been shared hundreds of times and liked by thousands of people, according to the Times analysis.

許多反對福奇的帖子被轉發了數千次，其中一些帖子指向一封7年前的電子郵件，內容是這位醫生在希拉里·克林頓(Hillary Clinton)擔任國務卿期間讚揚她的那封郵件。在YouTube上，關於福奇的陰謀論視頻在過去的一週內已經獲得了數十萬的瀏覽量。根據《紐約時報》的分析，在Facebook的私人群組中，詆譭他的帖子也被分享了數百次，被數千人點贊。

One anti-Fauci tweet Tuesday said, “Sorry liberals but we don’t trust Dr. Anthony Fauci.”

週二，一條反對水龍頭的推特寫道:“對不起，自由派，但我們不相信安東尼·福奇博士。”

The torrent of falsehoods aimed at discrediting Fauci is another example of the hyperpartisan information flow that has driven a wedge into the way Americans think. For the past few years, far-right supporters of Trump have regularly vilified those whom they see as opposing him. Even so, the campaign against Fauci stands out because he is one of the world’s leading infectious disease experts and a member of Trump’s virus task force, and it is unfolding as the government battles a pathogen that is rapidly spreading in the United States.

旨在抹黑福奇的謊言洪流是超黨派信息流動的另一個例子，這種信息流動已經破壞了美國人的思維方式。過去幾年裡，特朗普的極右翼支持者經常詆譭那些他們認為反對他的人。儘管如此，針對福奇的運動還是引人注目的，因為他是世界上最重要的傳染病專家之一，也是特朗普病毒工作組的成員之一，而且隨著政府與一種在美國迅速蔓延的病原體作鬥爭，這場運動正在展開。

It is the latest twist in the ebb and flow of right-wing punditry that for weeks echoed Trump in minimizing the threat posed by the coronavirus and arguably undercut efforts to alert the public of its dangers. When the president took a more assertive posture against the outbreak, conservative outlets shifted, too — but now accuse Democrats and journalists of trying to use the pandemic to damage Trump politically.

這是右翼權威人士潮起潮落中最新的轉折，幾個星期來，他們都在附和特朗普，儘量減少冠狀病毒的威脅，並可能削弱提醒公眾注意其危險的努力。當總統對疫情采取更強硬的姿態時，保守派媒體也改變了立場——但現在他們指責民主黨人和記者試圖利用疫情在政治上損害特朗普。

“There seems to be a concerted effort on the part of Trump supporters to spread misinformation about the virus aggressively,” said Carl Bergstrom, a professor of biology at the University of Washington who has studied misinformation.

“特朗普的支持者似乎在齊心協力，積極傳播有關該病毒的錯誤信息，”華盛頓大學(University of Washington)生物學教授卡爾·伯格斯特羅姆(Carl Bergstrom)說，他曾研究過錯誤信息。

Adding that Fauci is bearing the brunt of the attacks, Bergstrom said: “There is this sense that experts are untrustworthy, and have agendas that aren’t aligned with the people. It’s very concerning because the experts in this are being discounted out of hand.”

Bergstrom補充說，福奇是首當其衝的攻擊目標，他說:“有一種感覺，專家是不值得信任的，他們的議程與人民不一致。這是非常令人擔憂的，因為這方面的專家正在被忽視。”

The Trump administration has previously shown a distaste for relying on scientific expertise, such as when dealing with climate change. But misinformation campaigns during a pandemic carry a unique danger because they may sow distrust in public health officials when accurate information and advice are crucial, said Whitney Phillips, an assistant professor at Syracuse University who teaches digital ethics.

特朗普政府此前曾表現出對依賴科學專業知識的厭惡，比如在應對氣候變化方面。但是，雪城大學(Syracuse University)教授數字倫理學的助理教授惠特尼?

“What this case will show is that conspiracy theories can kill,” she said.

“這個案子將表明，陰謀論可以殺人，”她說。

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases did not respond to a request for comment on the misinformation being directed at Fauci, who has said he plans to keep working to contain the coronavirus.

美國國家過敏和傳染病研究所沒有回應就針對福奇的錯誤信息發表評論的請求。福奇說，他計劃繼續努力控制冠狀病毒。

“When you’re dealing with the White House, sometimes you have to say things one, two, three, four times, and then it happens,” Fauci said in an interview with Science magazine this past week. “So, I’m going to keep pushing.”

“當你和白宮打交道的時候，有時你不得不說一遍、二遍、三遍、四遍，然後事情就發生了，”福奇在上週接受《科學》雜誌採訪時說。“所以，我要繼續努力。”

The online campaign is an abrupt shift for Fauci, an immunologist who has led the institute since 1984. He has long been seen as credible by a large section of the public and journalists, advising every president since Ronald Reagan and encouraging action against the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s.

在線活動對福奇來說是一個突然的轉變，福奇是一位免疫學家，自1984年以來一直領導著該研究所。長期以來，他一直被廣大公眾和記者視為可靠的顧問，自羅納德•里根(Ronald Reagan)以來的歷任總統都是他的顧問，他還鼓勵人們在上世紀80年代採取行動抗擊艾滋病。

In recent weeks, much of the online discussion of Fauci was benign or positive. Zignal Labs, a media analysis company, studied 1.7 million mentions of Fauci across the web and TV broadcasts from Feb. 27 to Friday and found that through mid-March, he was mainly praised and his comments were straightforwardly reported. Right-wing figures quoted Fauci approvingly or lauded him for his comments on shutting down travel to and from China, Zignal Labs said.

最近幾周，網上關於福奇的討論大多是良性或積極的。媒體分析公司Zignal Labs研究了2月27日至週五期間網絡和電視廣播中提到的170萬次福奇，發現截至3月中旬，人們對福奇的評價主要是讚揚，他的言論也得到了直截了當的報道。Zignal實驗室稱，右翼人士引用了福奇的言論，表示贊同或稱讚福奇關於關閉來往中國的旅行的言論。

In the White House briefings on the coronavirus, he often spoke plainly of the severity of the situation, becoming something of a folk hero to some on the left. Then Fauci, who had been a steady presence at Trump’s side during the briefings, did not appear at the one March 18.

在白宮關於冠狀病毒的新聞發佈會上，他經常直言病情的嚴重性，成為一些左翼人士眼中的民族英雄。當時，在簡報會上一直堅定地站在特朗普身邊的福奇沒有出現在3月18日的簡報會上。

A hashtag asking “Where is Dr. Fauci?” began trending on Twitter. Several Facebook fan groups dedicated to praising his medical record called for his return. The first accounts tweeting #FauciFraud also appeared, although their volume of posts was small, according to the Times analysis.

一個話題標籤問“福奇博士在哪裡?”開始在推特上流行起來。幾個致力於讚揚他的醫療記錄的Facebook粉絲團體要求他回來。根據《紐約時報》的分析，第一批發推文的賬號#FauciFraud也出現了，儘管他們發的帖子數量不多。

Two days later, Fauci put his head in his hand at the White House briefing after Trump’s remark on the “Deep State Department.” His gesture — some called it a face palm — caught the attention of Trump’s supporters online, who saw it as an insult to the president.

兩天後，在特朗普發表關於“深度國務院”的言論後，福奇在白宮新聞發佈會上用手捂住頭。他的這一手勢——有人稱之為“掌臉”——引起了特朗普支持者的注意，他們認為這是對總統的侮辱。

Anti-Fauci posts spiked, according to Zignal Labs. Much of the increase was prompted by a March 21 article in The American Thinker, a conservative blog, which published the seven-year-old email that Fauci had written to an aide of Clinton.

根據Zignal實驗室的說法，反水龍頭的柱子是尖釘狀的。3月21日，保守派博客《美國思想家》(American思想家)發表了一篇文章，在很大程度上促成了這一增長。這篇文章公佈了福奇7年前寫給希拉里助手的一封電子郵件。

In the email, Fauci praised Clinton for her stamina during the 2013 Benghazi hearings. The American Thinker falsely claimed that the email was evidence that he was part of a secret group who opposed Trump.

在郵件中，福奇讚揚了克林頓在2013年班加西聽證會上的毅力。這位美國思想家錯誤地聲稱，這封電子郵件證明他是一個反對特朗普的秘密組織的成員。

That same day, Fitton of Judicial Watch posted a tweet linking to a different blog post that showed Fauci’s email on Clinton. In the tweet, Fitton included a video of himself crossing his arms and saying, “Isn’t that interesting.” It was retweeted more than 1,500 times.

就在同一天，司法觀察的菲頓發佈了一條推文，鏈接到另一篇顯示福奇有關克林頓的電子郵件的博客文章。在這條推特中，費頓還上傳了一段自己交叉雙臂的視頻，他說:“這不是很有趣嗎?這條微博被轉發了1500多次。

In an interview, Fitton said, “Dr. Fauci is doing a great job.” He added that Fauci “wrote very political statements to Hillary Clinton that were odd for an appointee of his nature to send.”

在一次採訪中，菲頓說，福奇做得很好。他還說，福奇“給希拉里?克林頓(Hillary Clinton)寫了非常具有政治色彩的聲明，對於一個天性使然的人來說，這樣的聲明很奇怪。”

The conspiracy theory was soon shared thousands of times across Facebook and Twitter. It was also taken up by messaging groups on WhatsApp and Facebook run by QAnon, the anonymous group that claims to be privy to government secrets. On YouTube, far-right personalities began spouting that Fauci was a fraud.

這一陰謀論很快在Facebook和Twitter上被分享了數千次。WhatsApp和Facebook上的消息群也加入了這一行動。QAnon是一個自稱知悉政府機密的匿名組織。在YouTube上，極右翼人士開始滔滔不絕地說福奇是個騙子。

By Tuesday, online and television mentions of Fauci had declined but had become consistently negative, Zignal Labs said.

Zignal實驗室表示，截至週二，網絡和電視上有關費希的報道有所減少，但一直呈負面趨勢。

One anti-Fauci tweet last Sunday read: “Dr. Fauci is in love w/ crooked @HillaryClinton. More reasons not to trust him.”

上週日，一條反對水龍頭的推特寫道:“Dr。福奇愛上了狡詐的希拉里·克林頓。還有更多不相信他的理由。”

Facebook said it proactively removed misinformation related to the coronavirus. YouTube said that it did not recommend the conspiracy-theory videos on Fauci to viewers and that it promotes credible virus information. Twitter said it remained “focused on taking down content that can lead to harm.”

Facebook說，它主動刪除了與冠狀病毒有關的錯誤信息。YouTube表示，它不向觀眾推薦有關福西的陰謀論視頻，並宣傳可信的病毒信息。Twitter表示，它仍然“專注於刪除可能導致傷害的內容”。

Phillips, the Syracuse assistant professor, said the campaign was part of a long-term conspiracy theory propagated by Trump’s followers.

雪城大學(Syracuse)助理教授菲利普斯(Phillips)表示，這場競選是特朗普的追隨者宣傳的長期陰謀論的一部分。

“Fauci has just been particularly prominent,” she said. “But any public health official who gets cast in a conspiratorial narrative is going to be subject to those same kinds of suspicions, the same kinds of doubt.”

她說:“福奇的問題尤其突出。“但任何公共衛生官員如果被打上陰謀論的標籤，都會受到同樣的懷疑，同樣的懷疑。”

That has not stopped Fauci from appearing on the internet. On Thursday, he joined a 30-minute Instagram Live discussion about the coronavirus hosted by basketball star Stephen Curry.

這並沒有阻止福奇出現在互聯網上。週四，他參加了由籃球明星斯蒂芬·庫裡主持的30分鐘關於冠狀病毒的直播討論。

In the session, Fauci, with a miniature basketball hoop behind him, conveyed the same message that he had said for weeks about the outbreak.

在會議中，福奇身後放著一個微型籃球圈，傳達了他幾個星期來一直在說的關於這次爆發的信息。

“This is serious business,” he said. “We are not overreacting.”

“這是一件嚴肅的事情，”他說。“我們沒有反應過度。”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

這篇文章最初發表在《紐約時報》上。

© 2020 The New York Times Company

©2020紐約時報公司

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