Ethics Quiz: Fauci’s Apology

https://ethicsalarms.com/2026/07/31/ethics-quiz-faucis-apology/

Ethics Quiz: Fauci’s Apology
July 31, 2026 / Jack Marshall

Francis Turner, a Brit I have never heard of who is currently living in 
Japan, has a substack up titled “Pleading the Fifth when you have 
already received a Presidential pardon is like wearing a mask after 
being fully vaccinated.” It’s a good line, but untrue. There were good 
reason, in Fauci’s villainous mind, for not testifying honestly in a 
Congressional hearing. He’s a narcissist and an unapologetic former Deep 
State operative, and he knows the Axis of Unethical Conduct is invested 
in defending him forever as long as he never betrays it. To testify 
honestly, Fauci would have to admit he was wrong, that he lied, and that 
terrible damage was done to the nation because of his lies and mistakes. 
It would mean accepting responsibility and being accountable. People 
like Fauci aren’t capable of doing that.

It was this argument by Turner, however, that fascinated me.

“I’m willing to forgive people but has to be a quid pro quo that is an 
acknowledgement that there is something to forgive. If you can’t admit 
you made mistakes and that those mistakes killed people, bankrupted 
businesses and so on then you don’t get my forgiveness. And as I 
tweeted1 people who got things wrong up to about June 2020 get a pass 
because there was a ton of confusion and (especially from the PRC) 
misleading information so figuring stuff out was hard. But anyone who 
continued to advocate school closures, isolation of the elderly, mask 
safety theater and so on after that date needs to apologise. Anyone who 
insisted on vaccination of everyone, including the young, and wanted 
passports, mandates or other coercive measures needs to apologise. 
Anyone who mindlessly mocked recommendations for Hthe world a huge favor 
by admitting that they made mistakes and apologising for them.CQ, Zinc, 
Vitamin D, Ivermectin and so on needs to apologise […]. So does anyone 
who deliberately misinterpreted President Trump’s remarks about 
disinfectant to imply that he said people should inject bleach. In fact 
the mainstream media needs to do a general apology for their 
un-questioning slavish devotion to “the science” even when said 
“science” changed its mind and their related trashing of anyone who 
didn’t follow “the science” as it was declared to be at the time….

“In the midst of all the “under the advice of my attorneys I will invoke 
my right under the 5th Amendment to the Constitution, to refrain from 
answering your questions” blather, Herr Doktor Science notably failed to 
apologise. Not in his opening statement, and not when explicitly asked 
to by Senator Bernie Moreno. He just repeated his 5th amendment spiel… 
The world has moved on. But I read some of the Fauci diaries. I’ve read 
the commentary on it by Alex Berenson and Jeff Childers and many others. 
And my frustration has come raging back…”I don’t require a jail term, 
repayment of all the moolah or even an admission of guilt. Just man up 
(almost everyone concerned is of the male persuasion), put on your big 
boy trousers and say sorry.It can be just that one word. “Sorry” No need 
to say why you are apologising. No need to say who to. Just say the 
word.This particularly applies to Herr Doktor Science because he’s got a 
presidential pardon so saying sorry won’t land him in jail. Unless of 
course he shares other people’s skepticism about the validity of the 
autopen pardon he received…

“Sir Elton John says ‘Sorry seems to be the hardest word’ but that’s no 
excuse to not say it.”

Your Ethics Alarms Ethics Quiz of the Day is…

Is an apology by Fauci ethically necessary, or even ethical?
I don’t think so., but I can be talked out of it.

Let’s look at the Ethics Alarms Apology Scale:

1. An apology motivated by the realization that one’s past conduct was 
unjust, unfair, and wrong, constituting an unequivocal admission of 
wrongdoing as well as regret, remorse and contrition, as part of a 
sincere effort to make amends and seek forgiveness.

2. An apology motivated by the realization that one’s legitimate and 
defensible action or words caused unanticipated, excessive, or 
unnecessary harm to a particular party or parties. The apology expresses 
a sincere regret that the harm occurred.

3. An apology motivated by a desire to accept accountability for an 
event or occurrence that one may not have caused, but was responsible 
for in some way.

4. A spontaneous  apology intended to demonstrate compassion and 
sympathy for the victim or victims of the unavoidable consequences of a 
necessary action.

5. A spontaneous apology designed to prevent future, preventable harm by 
expressing regret that a past action was necessary or that it occurred 
at all.

6. A forced or compelled version of 1-4, when the individual (or 
organization) apologizing knows that an apology is appropriate but would 
have avoided making one if he or she could have gotten away with it.

7. A forced or compelled version of 1-4, in which the individual (or 
organization) apologizing may not sincerely believe that an apology is 
appropriate, but chooses to show the victim or victims of the act 
inspiring it that the individual responsible is humbling himself and 
being forced to admit wrongdoing by the society, the culture, legal 
authority, or an organization or group that the individual’s actions 
reflect upon or represent .

8. A forced apology for a rightful or legitimate act, in capitulation to 
bullying, fear, threats, desperation or other coercion.

9. Deceitful apologies, in which the wording of the apology is crafted 
to appear apologetic when it is not (“if my words offended, I am 
sorry”). Another variation: apologizing for a tangential matter other 
than the act or words that warranted an apology.

10. An insincere and dishonest apology designed to allow the wrongdoer 
to escape accountability cheaply, and to deceive his or her victims into 
forgiveness and trust, so they are vulnerable to future wrongdoing.

11. The Impossible Apology: An inherently unbelievable apology for 
conduct or words so unethical and so extreme that nobody could possibly 
say or engage in it accidentally or unintentionally. Such an apology for 
words or conduct of signature significance, indicating that the speaker 
or wrongdoer is unethical and untrustworthy because no individual who is 
ethical and trustworthy would behave in such a manner even once, is not 
merely cynical and a travesty, but insulting to its intended audience.

Anything short of a Level 1, 2 or 3 apology on the scale would 
constitute a travesty coming from Dr. Fauci. It would be, at best, a 
Level 10, and in my view, probably an Impossible Apology. I don’t want a 
pro forma “I’m sorry” that Fauci can use as a “Get Out of Hell Free” 
card. Anything short of accountability is a victory for the bad guys.

But that’s just me. You?