The way I heard it explained is that Fauci is parsing the meaning of “Gain of Function”. His definition is that “Gain of function” is taking two known pathogens and splicing them together to enhance their effectiveness. In his way of thinking, if you splice a known pathogen together with something that you do not know the properties of, that is not “Gain of function”.
This is why he can lie with conviction. He has convinced himself that his definition is correct.
Orwell: changing the definition of words.
“Orwell: changing the definition of words.”
Fauci changing the definition of “gain of function”.
Also, Fauci changing the definition of “herd immunity”.