Elon Musk suggests Dr. Fauci should be prosecuted and mocks gender pronouns in controversial tweet — the latest in a series of statements fueling right-wing viewpoints

• Elon Musk suggested that Dr. Anthony Fauci should be prosecuted in a tweet posted on Sunday.
• The tweet is the latest in a series of posts supporting right-wing efforts and conspiracies in recent months. 
• Fauci is stepping down has director of the NIH and top medical adviser to President Biden at the end of the year. 

Elon Musk is taking jabs at Dr. Anthony Fauci, suggesting on Sunday in a tweet that nation's top infectious disease expert should be prosecuted — further stoking right-wing disinformation.

"My pronouns are Prosecute/Fauci," Musk wrote on Sunday in a now-viral tweet that has generated significant backlash.

The post came just hours after the publication of a New York Times op-ed penned by Fauci, in which he bestows knowledge to the future generation of scientists before he steps down later this month as the director of the National Institutes of Health director and President Biden's top medical adviser.

Musk's tweet also signaled support for GOP efforts to investigate Fauci's handling of COVID-19 while serving as top medical adviser to former President Donald Trump. Republican leaders including Sen. Rand Paul have criticized Fauci's efforts to contain the virus and made unfounded claims that a lab the NIH funded in Wuhan, China is behind the origin of the coronavirus. 

The tweet is the latest of several recent quips from Musk empowering right-wing viewpoints and conspiracies. In May, the billionaire Twitter and Tesla CEO wrote on Twitter that the believes Democrats "have become the party of division & hate" and that he "will vote Republican." 

He has since encouraged Independent voters to vote for Republican candidates to prevent a Democratic majority and amplified a debunked conspiracy that Nancy Pelosi's husband was attacked by a lover. 

"I think he's intentionally empowering right-wing extremists," J.M. Berger, a researcher on extremism on social media, told Insider. "Any argument that he's trying to empower the center is patently bullshit and should be treated as such."

The tweet also comes after Musk previously drew ire for mocking gender pronouns. In December 2020, the Human Rights Campaign urged Musk to apologize after sharing a series of tweets the organization called "insensitive" for demeaning gender identity and use of pronouns.  

—Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 14, 2020

"I absolutely support trans, but all these pronouns are an esthetic nightmare," Musk wrote at the time. 

Musk's transgender daughter applied to legally change her name in June 2022, stating she no longer wanted to be "related to my biological father in any way, shape or form."