We also know from Fauci's emails that he was aware that Covid was being transmitted A LOT by asymptomatic people. Meaning wearing a mask would help.
The idea that "no mask" is just as good as an "average mask from a store" is intellectually insulting because it is such a bald-faced lie. A lie on the level of "not covering your mouth when you cough is about the same as having an average mask from a store on when you cough."
Of course only Fauci knows why he lied about masks, and changed his herd immunity level numbers. Since he's lied a bunch of times, the answers he gives now about why he lied (he has admitted it) could also be lies.
I'm not saying Fauci is a super-villian, but he's an asshole who lied and as a result A LOT of people died who would have lived.