The good people of the internet have had their fair share of collective crushes over the years, but perhaps no crush has been more worthy of love, respect, and admiration than Dr. Anthony Fauci.

Dr. Fauci, as everyone probably knows by now, is the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. He's also a key member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force and often speaks alongside Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence during nightly coronavirus news conferences.

Because of his prominent effort to try to understand and slow the spread of the coronavirus, people have seen a lot of Dr. Fauci over the past month. And thanks to a combination of extreme boredom, a deep concern about the world, and a longing for human connection, the inevitable has happened: Dr. Fauci has become a crush.

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The coronavirus results in a potentially deadly respiratory disease called COVID-19, which means that social distancing, frequent hand washing, and other important practices are essential to stop the spread. It's a gravely serious matter, which makes this feels like a weird time to be tweeting about crushes, but this particular also makes a lot of sense.

People are desperate for lighthearted distractions from the chaos, and they're searching for romantic fantasies to occupy their minds because in-person dating is essentially on hold. Since everyone's old boring crushes are physically out of the picture, the doctor is IN.

For the record, Dr. Fauci has been married to his wife Christine Grady (who seems lovely) since 1985, so he's not even on the market. The man is also 79 years old, but honestly? He looks great.

As far as crushes during this trying time go, Dr. Fauci is the perfect one to have. On the surface, the Italian physician and immunologist could be described as a silver fox, and when "Tony" was younger he played basketball. Those are two bonuses. But the realreason Fauci is so attractive in this very moment in time is because he exhibits a reassuring surplus of something so many people seem to lack: competence.

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You know that saying "smart is sexy?" Well Dr. Fauci is living proof that the saying is true. The man knows his freaking stuff. He graduated from College of the Holy Cross and earned an M.D. from Cornell University Medical College. He's been given several prestigious awards over the years, and received the Preisdential Medal of Freedom in 2008. And he's helped lead medical relief efforts during other health crises including HIV, Ebola, SARS, and more. It's less of a physical crush and more of an academic crush, really.

Dr. Fauci has devoted his life to helping save others, and what could be more hopeful or exemplary than that? If crushing on Dr. Fauci — the man who facepalms while Trump makes absurd jokes during a pandemic — during this tough time makes you feel slightly more secure and joyous, then by all means crush away. But when we reach the light at the end of this terrifying tunnel, please do not go back to having crushes on people just because they're "tall" or "have a bed frame."

Let Dr. Fauci — a fountain of knowledge, emotional intelligence, and compassion for others — set a new global crush standard.

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