Dr. Anthony Fauci knows he's made 'a lot of enemies.' Here's what I know about him.

There is no doubt that Dr. Anthony Fauci has made major contributions to the world of medical science as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases from the beginning of the HIV/AIDS era, when I was still in medical school, until now.

I must confess two things about my relationship with Tony: One, I and many other physicians admire him as a scientist and have learned a great deal from the chapter he edits on infectious diseases in our Bible on medicine, Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine. Two, over the years he has become not only someone I have interviewed regularly on radio and TV but he is also a go-to connection for me at National Institutes of Health for patients with rare and difficult diseases.

Fauci is a great resource within the medical world and a national treasure beyond it. So why has he become such a polarizing figure during the COVID-19 pandemic, with one side praising him and the other side vilifying him? I asked him this very question during an interview on SiriusXM’s Doctor Radio. He told me that he doesn't consider himself political, and that when he retires from government service at the end of the year he will remain available to give medical advice to the White House and the NIH, if asked. (We all know he will be asked.)

Where his 'enemies' came from

Fauci told me he tries not to get distracted by either the praise or vilification he has received.

"I think the people who are attacking me are really attacking more than just me, but they are attacking some of the things I stand for," he said. "It was no secret that I had to push back on some of the things that were said in the prior administration that I felt that I had to do to maintain my own integrity and to fulfill my responsibility to the American public – when things were said that were not true about the efficacy of certain interventions, which we all knew never had any data to indicate that they were effective, like hydroxychloroquine and others, as well as statements about what the pattern of what the outbreak was going to be. My doing that and my speaking out against that has made for me a lot of enemies. And that’s how I’ve become, as people say, a lightning rod for the political divisiveness in this country.”

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Fauci said he saw the attacks on him as part of a larger growing intolerance in the country, and I must say I agree with him here, too.

"I’m not a political person, I never have been – you know that, you’ve known me a very long period of time – but unfortunately everyone now gets caught up in the divisiveness in the country," he said, "and that's why you’re seeing those sort of extremes of response to me and what I’ve said and done."

I have known Fauci for a long time, and I do not see him as a political person, though others may. I admire his speaking out for what he believes and never compromising his positions, though I also believe that one needs to be flexible and humble in the face of evolving science, and he has sometimes lacked sufficient flexibility when it comes to the COVID learning curve.

At the same time, Fauci has retained his brilliance and insight. This, too, deserves honor and appreciation rather than derision. He is not science itself but does, as he says, represent a principled approach to science.

Where Fauci and I have differed

On the one hand, I didn’t agree completely with Fauci's timing when he criticized the use of hydroxychloroquine, which showed some anti-viral properties against COVID-19 and I believe might have helped my elderly father and others recover in early 2020, when we had little else to offer.

On the other hand, when we did have treatments that targeted the coronavirus or the inflammation it caused, like remdesivir, dexamethasone and monoclonal antibodies, and especially when the vaccines and Paxlovid came out, those who adhered stubbornly to hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin despite negative studies helped to galvanize an enormous group of naysayers who have clearly jeopardized the overall COVID response.

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When it comes to COVID's origins, critics have maintained that Fauci's adherence to the natural origins and wet market theories have interfered with pushing for timely investigations into the possibility of lab origins and holding China fully accountable.

Further, Fauci has been criticized for backing research into a virus' potential. Regardless of whether it meets the official "gain of function" definition, such research – which is supposed to be limited and carefully monitored, especially when it involves enhanced potential pandemic pathogens – appears to me and others to be a dangerous pursuit. Nevertheless, Fauci is entitled to his point of view on this and does not deserve to be attacked for it.

Dr. Anthony Fauci is a lion at dusk and deserves to be honored and credited for his herculean efforts rather than derided.

More from Dr. Marc Siegel:

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How to break cycle of fear driven by COVID and war. And protect your kids' mental health.

Ukraine war revives my nuclear nightmares. But Zelensky's courage gives me hope.

Dr. Marc Siegel, a member of USA TODAY's Board of Contributors and a Fox News medical correspondent, is a professor of medicine and medical director of Doctor Radio at NYU Langone Health. His latest book is "COVID: the Politics of Fear and the Power of Science." Follow him on Twitter: @DrMarcSiegel

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Anthony Fauci has 'a lot of enemies.' Even I have disagreed with him.