Twitter had an internal Slack channel run by former employees called “Fauci Fan Club” according to new CEO Elon Musk.
Musk mentioned the old group chat in a thread criticizing Dr. Anthony Fauci posted early morning Wednesday. He was replying to venture capitalist Marc Andreessen’s criticism of an artificial intelligence chatbot for defending Fauci.
Despite these glaring issues, Twitter nonetheless had an internal Slack channel unironically called “Fauci Fan Club” 🤯
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 28, 2022
Musk accused Fauci of lying about “gain-of-function” research by tweeting a Sept. 9 2021 Newsweek report titled “Fauci Was ‘Untruthful’ to Congress About Wuhan Lab Research, New Documents Appear to Show.”
Musk compared gain-of-function research to a “bioweapon” and said “Fauci authored 2012 paper arguing for gain-of-function research! Obama wisely put this on pause, but Fauci restarted it,” with a link to a National Review article in his tweet.
“Despite these glaring issues, Twitter nonetheless had an internal Slack channel unironically called ‘Fauci Fan Club’,” Musk added. He did not reveal any details about the Slack channel. (RELATED: Dem-Led States’ Public Health Efforts Are Falling Apart. Here’s Why)
Musk also noted Fauci’s wife Christine Grady is the Head of Bioethics at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), making her “the person who is supposed to make sure that Fauci behaves ethically,” Musk said.
The Newsweek report references documents released by The Intercept Sept. 6, 2021 including previously unpublished grant proposals and project updates by EcoHealth Alliance, a group that used federal grants to fund bat coronavirus research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China, according to the outlet.
Newsweek compared the documents to Fauci’s congressional testimony in May 2021 when he said the NIH “has not ever and does not now fund gain-of-function research in the Wuhan Institute of Virology.”
Rutgers University Microbiologist Richard Ebright said to Newsweek Fauci’s statement about gain-of-function research in the Wuhan lab was “untruthful” based on the documents. Gain-of-function research involves modifying a pathogen to make it more active, Newsweek said.
Fauci announced Aug 22. his end of year resignation from his longtime position as Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) at the NIH.