Musk says Fauci lied, people died – Reuters

Tesla billionaire and Twitter boss Elon Musk sparked a social media storm on Sunday after suggesting that US Covid-19 czar Dr Anthony Fauci should be investigated and prosecuted for allegedly allegedly lied under oath about funding gain-of-work research at the Wuhan lab in China.

In what initially seemed like a tongue-in-cheek dig, poised to spark an avalanche of criticism from the left, Musk also posted a meme showing the retired White House chief medical adviser whispering “Just one more confinement my king” in the ear of President Biden.

But after Fauci’s name rocketed to the top of Twitter trends with more than 600,000 mentions, Musk apparently felt compelled to explain why he thought the controversial face of America’s pandemic response should make the biggest splash. subject of an investigation.

“As for Fauci, he lied to Congress and funded gain-of-function research that killed millions,” Musk said in response to a critic, adding “not great imo.”

Fauci, 81, who plans to retire by the end of the month, has led a rambling US Covid-19 response marked by his about-face on issues including mask effectiveness and targets herd immunity. Shortly after Fauci announced he would be stepping down as Biden’s chief medical adviser and director of the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) – Senator Rand Paul demanded that the US administration keeps documents and messages that could become evidence of the potential probe.

“Fauci’s resignation should not prevent a thorough investigation into the origins of the pandemic. He should be required to testify under oath regarding any discussion he participated in regarding the Wuhan lab leak. His policies have destroyed lives,” Paul tweeted.

The senator previously accused Fauci of directing public funds towards gain-of-function research at the Wuhan lab and lying about it under oath in congressional testimony, as the two repeatedly argued in Senate hearings.

Gain of function is the modification of pathogens to improve them in various potential ways, including transmissibility. The reasoning is that scientists can study new strains and find ways to stop them before similar adaptations emerge naturally.

The ‘lab leak’ theory – that the coronavirus leaked from a Chinese lab – was popularized by former US President Donald Trump, who made the allegation amid a trade war with China. Major US media outlets and tech platforms initially called it “misinformation” and attempted to suppress the theory from public discourse. However, after Musk took over Twitter, the company stopped enforcing its Covid-19 “Misleading Information Policy.”