Dr. Anthony Fauci claimed that Elon Musk’s “absurd statements” in “strange, bizarre tweets” could turn young people away from careers in public health during a Tuesday MSNBC appearance.
Musk took aim at Fauci Sunday with a post on Twitter in which he said his pronouns were “Prosecute/Fauci,” confirming in a follow-up tweet posted Monday that a future edition of the “Twitter Files” would explain the post.
“I’ve had to deal with and even though I don’t listen to or bother with those strange, bizarre tweets like prosecute me for what? I don’t know what he’s thinking about,” Fauci, who announced he was retiring as chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden Aug. 22, told host Andrea Mitchell. (RELATED: ‘Unbelievable’: Fox News Host Rips Fauci For Dodging COVID Origins Question)
“What it does is it really is – turns people away, I’m afraid, younger individuals who were interested in getting into public health might say, ‘What is all this about?’ where public health officials who are doing nothing more or less than trying to save people’s lives by promoting and public health principles get attacked for reasons that seem inexplicable,” Fauci continued.
WATCH:
Fauci’s tenure as NIAID director was marred with criticism over decisions made during the COVID pandemic and his handling of the HIV/AIDS epidemic during the Reagan administration, according to The New York Times. During the outbreak of the AIDS epidemic, Fauci reportedly pursued a vaccine instead of retroviral treatments, according to the Federalist.
Fauci, whose net worth climbed by $5 million during the pandemic, also faced questions about the funding of so-called “gain of function” research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV).
“It really is, I believe Andrea, a manifestation of the profound divisiveness which we have in our society right now and the politicization of science which leads to absurd statements like that,” Fauci said.
Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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