Innocent Fauci Text Spun to Boost COVID-Miscarriage Myth
What’s happening: Conservative commentators and right-leaning media are seizing on a January 2021 text message from Dr. Anthony Fauci to promote the long-debunked myth that COVID-19 vaccines cause miscarriages.
Context: On Aug. 10, Republican U.S. Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin released a text message from Fauci’s government-issued cellphone during his time as director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
- In a Jan. 25, 2021, text message to Rochelle Walensky, then the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and to then-Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy, Fauci said that due to the risk of inflammation and fever “after the 2nd dose [of a COVID vaccine], this theoretically could be associated with miscarriage in the 1st trimester.”
A closer look: The text prompted a surge in the debunked claim that COVID vaccines were linked to miscarriages. For example, The New York Post stated in an Aug. 10 headline and X post: “Fauci privately warned of miscarriage risk linked to COVID vaccine while publicly claiming no issues, newly released texts show.” While the article itself mentioned that Fauci had qualified his concern about miscarriages with the word “theoretically,” that point was not included in the X post, which received 21 million views and 34,000 likes in one day.
- Far-right commentator and President Donald Trump ally Laura Loomer reposted the Post’s headline on her X account the same day and added, “Not only does the vaccine make you miscarry, but it also increases your chances of infertility,” later stating that she is “a proud anti-vaxxer.” Loomer’s post received 150,000 views and 4,700 likes in one day.
- Multiple prominent X accounts cited the Post story to call for Fauci’s arrest — or worse. Former ESPN anchor Sage Steele said above an Aug. 10 repost of the Post headline: “Where do I go to get permission to waterboard this man?? As he hangs upside by his toes, of course. Anyone wanna join me?” Her post received 567,000 views and 8,200 likes in one day.
Actually: An abundance of evidence from peer-reviewed research indicates that there is no link between COVID vaccines and pregnancy issues such as miscarriage. Indeed, the CDC website currently states: “More than a million pregnant women around the world have received an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, before and during pregnancy. Studies have shown no increased risk for complications like miscarriage, preterm delivery, stillbirth, or birth defects.”
More context: When Fauci sent his text message in late January 2021 noting that the vaccine could “theoretically could be associated with miscarriage,” there was little data about COVID vaccination during pregnancy, as pregnant women had not been included in the vaccines’ clinical trials.
- Healthcare providers were aware of that initial knowledge gap. In December 2020, the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine recommended that pregnant patients “engage in a discussion about potential benefits and unknown risks together with their healthcare providers” about COVID vaccines.
Zooming out: Other proponents of the claim that COVID vaccines can complicate pregnancy have cited May 2025 Senate testimony by Dr. James Thorp, a Florida OB-GYN, who said that COVID vaccines caused an 82 percent miscarriage rate.
- However, Thorp’s testimony was based on a misrepresentation of a 2021 study, Reality Check reported at the time. The study had actually concluded, “Preliminary findings did not show obvious safety signals among pregnant persons who received mRNA Covid-19 vaccines.”
NewsGuard did not receive a response to emails sent to the New York Post, Laura Loomer, Sage Steele, and the offices of Sens. Ron Johnson and Rand Paul, and Fauci, seeking comment on the posts cited above. A phone message to the Post’s newsroom also did not draw a response.
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