Twitter CEO Elon Musk defended himself Sunday after a backlash for tweeting that his pronouns are "Prosecute/Fauci" earlier that day, a reference to chief White House adviser Anthony Fauci.
"Elon, please don't mock and promote hate toward already marginalized and at-risk-of-violence members of the #LGBTQ+ community," astronaut Scott Kelly responded to Musk's tweet. "They are real people with real feelings. Furthermore, Dr Fauci is a dedicated public servant whose sole motivation was saving lives."
"I strongly disagree," Musk replied. "Forcing your pronouns upon others when they didn't ask, and implicitly ostracizing those who don't, is neither good nor kind to anyone. As for Fauci, he lied to Congress and funded gain-of-function research that killed millions of people. Not awesome imo."
Republicans, including Sen. Rand Paul, Ky., and Rep. Jim Jordan, Ohio, have pressed Fauci on whether the National Institutes of Health has ever funded gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Fauci claims it is "entirely completely incorrect."
House Republicans have often floated the idea of investigating Fauci upon taking the House majority in January. Fauci has acknowledged such a scenario and has indicated that he would cooperate.
Fauci has been often criticized and plans to step down from his role later this month.
Musk has said he plans to release files from the company's internal system showing how the social media platform dealt with the pandemic.
Musk also ended Twitter's policies surrounding the discussion of the COVID-19 virus after he took over.
Later Sunday, he shared a meme showing Fauci whispering to an ill and worn-out President Biden, "Just one more lockdown, my king."
The tweet was in reference to "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" and King Theoden's relationship with Wormtongue while possessed by the evil Saruman the White.
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