Twitter chief Elon Musk took several swipes at US Covid response head and Anthony Fauci amid ongoing ‘Twitter Files’ reports. In a tweet that has now gone viral, Musk demanded Fauci’s prosecution.
“My pronouns are Prosecute/Fauci,” the social networking site's boss wrote on Sunday.
This was not the only jibe that Musk took at Fauci. In another tweet the same day, Musk shared a meme carrying photos of Fauci and Joe Biden with a text that read, “Just one more lockdown my king…”
Fauci is the chief medical advisor to US President Joe Biden who is set to step down from his White House role as well as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease by the month’s end. He also headed the US Covid response team during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Musk's Critcism Of Fauci Of Lying About Funding 'Gain-of-Research'
The Twitter chief has been critical of Fauci for handling of Covid-19 pandemic and has alleged him of lying to the US Congress that the latter did not fund the 'gain-of-research' in China on the coronavirus.
Fauci had told Congress that the National Institute of Health had funded research on bat coronaviruses, but had not genetically engineered the virus to be more transmissible to humans.
"As for Fauci, he lied to Congress and funded gain-of-function research that killed millions of people. Not awesome imo," Musk said in response to former NASA astronaut, Scott Kelly who took side with Fauci.
"Elon, please don’t mock and promote hate toward already marginalized and at-risk-of-violence members of the LGBTQ+ community. They are real people with real feelings. Furthermore, Dr Fauci is a dedicated public servant whose sole motivation was saving lives," Kelly had said.
Mixed Reactions To Musk's Tweet
Musk’s tweets taking a dig at Fauci received mixed reactions.
Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar praised how Fauci "calmly guided our country through the crisis" and addressed Musk, saying: "Could you just leave a good man alone in your seemingly endless quest for attention?"
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Meanwhile, the Tesla chief was applauded by right-wing corners.
Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who had been removed from Twitter over Covid misinformation but whose account was reinstated under Musk's leadership, tweeted: "I affirm your pronouns Elon."
Republican lawmakers have pledged to grill Fauci when they take control of the House of Representatives in January, after locking horns repeatedly with the top immunologist over Covid vaccines, mask mandates and other pandemic-related issues.