Elon Musk wants Dr. Anthony Fauci to be prosecuted
What's the story
In a surprising tweet, Twitter owner Elon Musk has called for the prosecution of Dr. Anthony Fauci, the face of the US's response to COVID-19.
"My pronouns are Prosecute/Fauci," he said, alluding to the practice of indicating gender pronouns to call out Fauci.
Fauci will step down as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the end of 2022.
Tweet
Musk's tweet received over 800,000 likes in 11 hours
Musk's derision of Fauci over the weekend came as a surprise to many and without any context. On his part, the billionaire gave no explanation as to why he wants Fauci prosecuted.
The tweet, however, soon picked up steam, with many agreeing with Musk while others expressing their support for Fauci. Within 11 hours, Musk's tweet received over 800,000 likes.
Support
The tweet received support from many conservatives
The support for Musk's tweet came chiefly from the conservative corner. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, whose account was previously suspended by Twitter for violating its policy on COVID-19 misinformation, agreed with Musk about charging Fauci.
Her account was reinstated shortly after Musk had ended the policy last month. She replied to Musk, "I affirm your pronouns Elon."
Against
Former CIA director criticized Musk for his tweet
Not everybody agreed with Musk. John Brenna, the former director of the CIA had some harsh words for the billionaire.
He said, "Dr. Fauci is a national hero who will be remembered for generations to come for his innate goodness & many contributions to public health."
"You may have money, but you have no class," he added.
Fauci/Biden
Musk mocked both Fauci and Biden
Fauci has been the chief medical advisor to the president since 2021, a position he will step down from at the end of this year.
Including Joe Biden, Fauci has advised every US president since Ronald Reagan.
Musk followed his first tweet with a meme showing Fauci telling Biden, "just one more lockdown my king...," taking a jibe at the former's social distancing recommendations.
Twitter Post
Fauci funded gain-of-function research: Musk
I strongly disagree. Forcing your pronouns upon others when they didn’t ask, and implicitly ostracizing those who don’t, is neither good nor kind to anyone.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 12, 2022
As for Fauci, he lied to Congress and funded gain-of-function research that killed millions of people. Not awesome imo.
Lying
Musk accused Fauci of lying to Congress
Musk himself called out Fauci's involvement in the gain-of-function research. In reply to NASA astronaut Scott Kelly's defense of Fauci, Musk called Fauci a liar.
He also talked about gender pronouns saying, "forcing your pronouns upon others when they didn't ask, and implicitly ostracizing those who don't, is neither good nor kind to anyone."
The arguments are bound to heat up.
Troubling
Republicans want to investigate Fauci
Musk's tweets have come at a time when Republican House representatives are accusing Fauci of lying about gain-of-function research on bat coronavirus.
Before the 2022 midterm elections, the Republicans had vouched to make Fauci's life hard by investigating his involvement in the COVID pandemic if they gain control of the House or Senate.
He has promised to cooperate with any investigation.