Twitter CEO Elon Musk slammed Scott Kelly, astronaut and the brother of Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) in a tweet Sunday evening after Kelly called out the 51-year-old executive over mocking the use of pronouns.
“Elon, please don’t mock and promote hate toward already marginalized and at-risk-of-violence members of the #LGBTQ+ community,” Kelly tweeted. “They are real people with real feelings. Furthermore, Dr Fauci is a dedicated public servant whose sole motivation was saving lives.”
Musk responded, “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.”
“As for Fauci, he lied to Congress and funded gain-of-function research that killed millions of people,” Musk added. “Not awesome imo.”
Kelly’s comments were in response to a tweet that Musk posted early Sunday morning, in which he stated, “My pronouns are Prosecute/Fauci,” an hour after another tweet warning that things were about to “get spicy.”
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.
As for Fauci, he lied to Congress and funded gain-of-function research that killed millions of people. Not awesome imo.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 12, 2022
Musk’s latest tweets could suggest damning information might soon be revealed about Fauci, the government virologist whose advice set COVID policies — including school lockdowns, economic shutdowns, and mask and vaccine mandates — under two administrations.
Fauci’s defenders have elevated him to god-like status over the last three years, with yard signs saying “In Fauci We Trust” and votive candles bearing his image. But a growing chorus of critics blame the octogenarian head of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases and current chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden for blocking investigation into the possibility that COVID leaked from a Chinese lab, where his office had funded dangerous bat virus research, as well as his heavy-handed advice to close schools and businesses during the pandemic.
Fauci is scheduled to retire sometime this month, although Republicans in the House and Senate have vowed to investigate his potential role in the pandemic, which has so far killed more than six million people around the world.
Musk also tweeted out this photo of Fauci and Biden:
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 11, 2022
A previous version of this story incorrectly referred to Scott Kelly as his brother, Mark Kelly. It has been corrected.