Fauci did actually say at one point that masks don't work against COVID and could actually make you more likely to catch it, which was a lie intended to avoid a rush on masks that would lead to a shortage for healthcare workers (after Trump gutted the emergency stockpiles). This whole debacle is a perfect demonstration of why it's unethical to deceive the public even if you think it's justified. Whatever temporary benefit might have come from it is vastly outweighed by the long term harm of destroying trust. Anti-mask people could literally point to clips of Fauci on 60 minutes saying masks don't work.

The standard lib response is to either deny that it happened at all or to make some vague reference to "the science changed." I'd be fascinated to see what specific scientific study at the time showed masks were ineffective at combatting a respiratory illness, and what caused this supposed study to be discredited. The fact is there was never anything to suggest masks are ineffective. It was just a lie, prompted by shortages. Other countries, across Asia and elsewhere, immediately rolled out masks because they obviously work and they didn't gut all their emergency services.

It is of course pretty much impossible to express any sort of rational criticism of any of this without being lumped in with the crazies, but it was a significant deception that really convinced me the US is FUBAR. Even the scientific institutions have been corrupted. Of course, now we have RFK Jr. so at this point it's very obviously a clownshow regardless.