It was March 22, 2020, and the coronavirus pandemic was seriously biting, with more than 10,000 new cases and more than 125 new deaths — and Dr. Anthony Fauci was obsessed with how much media attention he was getting.

“Press is going wld with me,” he wrote in his personal diary, according to a version newly released by Sen. Rand Paul, in which he marveled at his domination of the newspapers and, in particular, their willingness to side with him over President Trump.

“The press are crucifying the POTUS for ’not listening to me,’” he wrote, reveling in media coverage he said hailed him “for sticking to my guns.”

Mr. Paul, chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, released the document just days before Dr. Fauci is slated to appear before the panel in a final showdown between the two men.

The diary, which spans 1,141 pages of an electronic document, will give senators plenty of ammunition.

For one thing, Dr. Fauci was quick to label the outbreak the “Wuhan virus,” using that term on Jan. 10, 2020, just as news of China’s growing problem was breaking through.

He was also fairly quick to decide that the virus stemmed from a natural outbreak, rejecting the alternative hypothesis that it emerged from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

And even as federal agencies began to tilt toward the lab leak explanation, Dr. Fauci resisted.

“It became clear to me that the FBI has no idea what they’re talking about since they are convinced that the origin of COVID-19 is from a laboratory leak,” reads his entry for July 7, 2021.

The overriding theme of his diary is his fascination with his treatment in the press.

He celebrated positive profiles and closely tracked speculation about his appearances — or lack thereof — at press conferences.

As U.S. deaths climbed over 10,000 on April 6, 2020, he wrote: “Intense publicity about me continues with stories of grandmothers who have crushes on men. Petitions to vote me ’Sexiest Man Alive.’ Major stories about my basketball career at Regis [high school].”