WH defends Fauci after he’s attacked by Musk on Twitter

At the White House briefing on Monday, Yahoo News Senior White House Correspondent Alex Nazaryan asked White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre about Twitter owner Elon Musk attacking Dr. Anthony Fauci on the platform. Jean-Pierre said the “dangerous” attacks on Fauci are “disgusting and they are divorced from reality.”

Video Transcript

ALEX NAZARYAN: As you know, Elon Musk launched a series of attacks on Dr. Anthony Fauci over the weekend, calling for his prosecution. And then he shared some other memes about him and suggested that he lied about-- he's lying about the origins of the coronavirus. What's your response, first of all, specifically to the attacks on Dr. Fauci? And second, how is your view of Twitter as a sort of public forum, and a forum for yourself and the president and many other officials here, how are those views evolving?

KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: So, look, we've been very clear about this. These attacks, these personal attacks that we have been seeing, are dangerous on Dr. Fauci and other public health professionals as well. They are disgusting, and they are divorced from reality. And we will continue to call that out and be very clear about that.

Again, these are incredibly dangerous, these personal attacks that we are seeing. Dr. Fauci has served under seven Republican and Democratic presidents. We cannot forget that.

He has given his almost entire career to civil service, public service, as a public servant. His work on infectious disease, from HIV/AIDS to COVID, has saved countless lives. And it's unfortunate that he has-- we are fortunate, I should say, that he has devoted his career and his life and his exceptional talent to the America's public health-- to America's public health.

And that's what should be discussed right now. That's what we should be thankful to him about. And, again, these are incredibly dangerous and should be called out. I'll leave it there.