I simply do not understand these statements. Why does it matter if it protects one person or the other? If everyone (or more realistically, a majority) wore a mask, would it not protect everyone wearing it? It’s a respiratory disease. You don’t need to be a PHD expert to understand it infects you from breathing it in

I prefer going by what the scientific evidence shows, not what people who are not PHD experts think. It might seem intuitive that mask-wearing by uninfected people helps keep them from getting sick, but there is a lack of good evidence showing that to be true.

For example, look at this document about pandemic preparedness that was put together by the Canadian government in 2018. if tldr look at the bolded portions. (This quote is from section 3.5.1.5)

Little evidence exists as to how effectively the wearing of a mask by well individuals will prevent them from becoming infected Footnote87, Footnote88 However, mask use by well individuals, in combination with other protective measures, might be beneficial in certain situations (e.g., when high-risk individuals must be in crowded settings or for well parents caring for ill children at home).

For masks to be effective, individuals must wear them consistently and correctly; these actions can be challenging. Masks must be worn only once, never shared and always changed when soiled or wet. If not used properly, masks may lead to a greater risk of pandemic influenza transmission because of contamination, or they may make the user overconfident and hence neglectful of other personal protective measures such as hand hygiene, respiratory etiquette and self-isolation when illFootnote89 – measures that have been deemed important complementary actions to the use of masks for the reduction of disease transmission.Footnote90 Finally, given that masks cannot be used when eating and drinking and may make communication difficult, wearing them for prolonged periods may be impractical and ineffective. It is important to present the limitations of mask use to the public.Footnote91 Advice on proper disposal of used masks should accompany any recommendations for their use in the community setting.

Providing masks to well people is unlikely to be feasible or sustainable on a population basis in a pandemic and may not be an appropriate use of public resources since little evidence exists regarding their effectiveness in reducing the spread of disease in the general population.

Notice something here? It sounds quite similar to what Fauci said in March, doesn't it? That's because Fauci isn't an idiot and he wasn't lying.

Now, because we know that symptomatic spread is such a problem, we've changed our approach to make universal masking a priority. That's a choice that came up in response to evidence that Fauci didn't have back in March.

As for how imperfect protection might be no better, as Fauci said, and as that Canadian document says, there's fear (justified imo) that mask-wearing encourages riskier behavior, neglect of other preventative measures, and face touching. And again, they wanted to prevent hoarding. If you know that evidence shows that mask-wearing provides paltry (if any) protection from infection to the wearer, and if there isn't good evidence of asymptomatic spread being a serious concern, why would you tell people that mask-wearing is so serious that you should def run out and buy some, or make their own?