On Monday, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters that the billionaire Elon Musk’s public criticism of top U.S. health official Anthony Fauci is “dangerous” and “repugnant” and must be condemned.
Jean-Pierre stated on Monday, “They are repulsive and detached from reality, and we will continue to call them out and be very explicit about it.” She lauded Fauci’s management of public health disasters, such as the coronavirus pandemic.
As per The Hindustan Times, Musk tweeted over the weekend, “My pronouns are Prosecutor/Fauci.” As the tweet went viral, the CEO of Twitter and electric car manufacturer Tesla Inc commented, “Truth resonates.”
Fauci, who announced his intention to retire in December as President Joe Biden’s top medical adviser and the highest-ranking U.S. infectious disease official, has dealt with the difficult concerns surrounding health crises ranging from HIV/AIDS to avian flu and Ebola. The immunologist with over fifty years of public service has advised seven U.S. presidents, beginning with the Republican Ronald Reagan.
But it was his handling of Covid and his blunt assessments from the White House podium that Americans needed to change their behavior in response to the pandemic that made him a hero to public health advocates while serving under former President Donald Trump, a villain to some on the right, and an unusual celebrity among bureaucratic officials accustomed to toiling in anonymity.
With almost a million deaths attributed to Covid-19, the United States ranks first globally. Fauci has reported receiving death threats. He received criticism from Trump and other conservatives who objected to the precautions he urged, such as immunization, social isolation, and masking, to lessen the pandemic’s lethality.
Republicans also vowed to investigate Fauci if they won control of Congress in the midterm elections, in which they won the House, but the Senate was narrowly retained by the Democrats.
