Elon Musk Takes Aim at Top Immunologist With ‘Prosecute/Fauci’ Jibe
Fauci #Fauci
Twitter CEO Elon Musk declared on Sunday that his “pronouns are Prosecute/Fauci,” taking aim at the top immunologist.
Musk’s early morning tweet about Dr. Anthony Fauci, the soon-to-be retired chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden, is the latest case where the billionaire has won praise from conservatives on the social media platform.
In his tweet, the billionaire, 51, appeared to mock pronoun use and said: “My pronouns are Prosecute/Fauci.” The comment has been liked more than 208,200 times and retweeted 39,300 times since being shared.
Meanwhile, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican, replied to Musk’s tweet and said: “I affirm your pronouns Elon.”
However, vaccine scientist and author Dr. Peter Hotez, was among those who hit out at Musk and tweeted Sunday: “For the record: Dr. Fauci has done nothing wrong, except serve our nation.”
He added: “In the meantime, Mr. Musk should know that 200,000 Americans needlessly lost their lives from Covid due to this kind of antiscience rhetoric and disinformation. Elon, I’m asking you to take down this tweet.”
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 1 million Americans have died after they contracted COVID-19.
Fauci advocated people get vaccinated and wear masks during the pandemic, but has come under scrutiny from conservatives and conspiracy theorists over restrictions and medical advice he offered.
Earlier this year, Fauci, 81, announced he was resigning as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) in December “to pursue the next chapter of my career” after spending more than a half-century in government, prompting Republican detractors to question his timing following his perceived double-talk during the pandemic.
Senator Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican, who has had multiple public squabbles with the doctor, pledged at the time to conduct “a full-throated investigation into the origins of the pandemic” regardless of Fauci’s impending departure.
The top immunologist has been harassed after he became a target of people who question the benefits of the vaccine, saying it is dangerous. Various claims about the COVID-19 vaccine’s safety have repeatedly been dispelled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Musk has previously made comments in support of the vaccine, including in a tweet from last April.
“To be clear, I do support vaccines in general and covid vaccines specifically. The science is unequivocal. In very rare cases, there is an allergic reaction, but this is easily addressed with an EpiPen,” Musk tweeted at the time.
Since Musk acquired Twitter for $44 billion in October, he has been praised by conservatives over his tweets.
Earlier this month, Musk turned to journalist Matt Taibbi to reveal how the company blocked users from sharing a 2020 report from the New York Post regarding Hunter Biden’s laptop.
At the time, then-President Donald Trump said Joe Biden, who was running for the White House against him, used his position as vice president under former President Barack Obama to benefit the interests of his son. Ongoing investigations by House Republicans have yet to prove the president was involved in any potential missteps with his son, however.
Twitter received a slew of backlash for its censorship at the time, most notably from Trump’s administration. The social media giant had said, however, that the newspaper’s article breached its Hacked Content Policy, and changed its approach to such content shortly after the decision.
Newsweek has contacted Twitter and Fauci’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases office for comment.
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