Bill Sternberg added a note to the top of the op-ed saying the editors chose to publish the op-ed because it was “newsworthy,” considering the White House’s recent attacks on Fauci’s credibility. But Sternberg added, “However, several of Navarro’s criticisms of Fauci — on the China travel restrictions, the risk from the coronavirus and falling mortality rates — were misleading or lacked context. As such, Navarro’s op-ed did not meet USA TODAY’s fact-checking standards.” Navarro said Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease expert, had been “wrong about everything I have interacted with him on.”