Former CIA Director John Brennan kicked a virtual hornet’s nest when he attempted to defend Dr. Anthony Fauci after a late-night Twitter-swipe from the platform’s new owner Elon Musk.
Following Musk’s cryptic announcement revealing that his pronouns are “Prosecute/Fauci,” Brennan jumped to the former (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious) NIAID Director’s defense, calling him “a national hero.”
”Dr. Fauci is a national hero who will be remembered for generations to come for his innate goodness & many contributions to public health,” Brennan tweeted.
He then went on to take a swipe at Musk, adding, “Despite your business success, you will be remembered most for fueling hate & public divisions. You may have money, but you have no class.”
Dr. Fauci is a national hero who will be remembered for generations to come for his innate goodness & many contributions to public health
Despite your business success, you will be remembered most for fueling public hate & divisions.
You may have money, but you have no class. https://t.co/0zabyXMERz
— John O. Brennan (@JohnBrennan) December 11, 2022
Critics quickly came for Brennan, arguing both that he was wrong about Fauci and that his own lack of candor with the American people might disqualify his opinion.
“Dr. Fauci killed countless Americans, destroyed countless businesses, destroyed the education and daily lives of countless children, and lied repeatedly to accomplish all of that. No wonder an America-hating communist piece of garbage like @JohnBrennan thinks he’s a hero,” actor Nick Searcy tweeted.
Dr. Fauci killed countless Americans, destroyed countless businesses, destroyed the education and daily lives of countless children, and lied repeatedly to accomplish all of that. No wonder an America-hating communist piece of garbage like @JohnBrennan thinks he’s a hero. https://t.co/pqkf4yxUf1
— Nick Searcy, INTERNATIONAL FILM & TELEVISION STAR (@yesnicksearcy) December 11, 2022
Steve Hilton, host of Fox News Channel’s “The Next Revolution,” weighed in as well, disputing Brennan’s claim that Fauci would be remembered for anything other than his connections to dubious research and how that impacted the federal government’s response to the COVID pandemic.
“No, Fauci will be remembered for his demented obsession with Gain of Function research which drove him to evade Obama & Trump administration rules to commission the reckless experiments in Wuhan that are the most likely origin of the pandemic that killed millions of people,” he said.
No, Fauci will be remembered for his demented obsession with Gain of Function research which drove him to evade Obama & Trump administration rules to commission the reckless experiments in Wuhan that are the most likely origin of the pandemic that killed millions of people. https://t.co/htS5JblHpG
— steve hilton (@SteveHiltonx) December 11, 2022
Brennan appeared to take issue with the complaints, doubling down on his initial comments several hours later.
“Good people in democracies need a more effective way to prevent attention-craving, emotionally immature, & highly devious individuals, esp those of means, from being socially, culturally, & politically destructive,” he said. “We certainly seem to have far too many of them lately.”
Good people in democracies need a more effective way to prevent attention-craving, emotionally immature, & highly devious individuals, esp those of means, from being socially, culturally, & politically destructive.
We certainly seem to have far too many of them lately. https://t.co/tEiDgcZjon
— John O. Brennan (@JohnBrennan) December 11, 2022
Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., lashed out at Musk over the same tweet that had provoked Brennan, claiming, “Elon Musk wants to criminalize Anthony Fauci because he disagrees with him. Elon is no champion of free speech.”
Elon Musk wants to criminalize Anthony Fauci because he disagrees with him.
Elon is no champion of free speech. pic.twitter.com/2UlWmvQR6n
— Ritchie Torres (@RitchieTorres) December 11, 2022
But when popular Canadian legal blogger Viva Frei (@thevivafrei) pushed back, saying, “Pretty sure @elonmusk wants to ‘criminalize’ Fauci because Fauci lied under oath, engaged in gain of function research in a Chinese lab, jeopardized the entire planet, and arguably contributed to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people,” Musk’s response was simple: “Correct.”
Correct
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 11, 2022