OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Two things people do not normally anticipate hearing in the same sentence are “former President Obama” and “MAGA,” but that is what has happened. This week, a Twitter user shared a video of a speech by Obama, where said he had “gone full MAGA,” and got the attention of Twitter CEO Elon Musk who said that he spoke “wise words.”
In the video, which is from 2019 at an Obama Foundation event, the former president took a swipe at “woke” culture.
“This idea of purity and you’re never compromised and you’re always politically woke and all that stuff, you should get over that quickly,” he said to the audience. “The world is messy. There are ambiguities. People who do really good stuff have flaws.”
“People who you are fighting may love their kids,” the former president said.
“I get a sense among certain young people on social media that the way of making change is to be as judgmental as possible about other people.
“If I tweet or I hashtag about how you didn’t do something right or you used the wrong verb, then I can sit back and feel pretty good about myself because ‘Man did you see how woke I was? I called you out!’ he said.
“That’s not activism,” Obama said. “That’s not bringing about change. If all you’re doing is casting stones, you are probably not going to get that far,” he said.
Wise words from President Obama
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 14, 2022
As for the Twitter CEO, he got the attention of many this week when he went after Dr. Anthony Fauci.
In the tweets, in which he appeared to mock people listing their pronouns on Twitter, he said that his pronouns are “prosecute Fauci.”
My pronouns are Prosecute/Fauci
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 11, 2022
That came after a meme he shared that depicted Fauci informing President Joe Biden “Just one more lockdown my king.”
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 11, 2022
He then warned that things were going to “get spicy:” before sharing his pronouns.
Now things get spicy 🌶️
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 11, 2022
Last month, Fauci has responded to the threats from the incoming Republican Congress that he may be called to testify during an investigation.
“There have been all these House Republican calls for investigations into to the origins of Covid and saying they’re gonna bring you up to Capitol Hill. Do you think that wanes as you step down?” ABC ‘Face The Nation’ host Margaret Brennan said on Sunday.
“Well, I don’t think it’s gonna wane for me. The Republican House has said that they’re gonna — and that’s fine with me,” the doctor said.
“You’ll appear?” the host said.
“Oh, of course. I mean, I’m very much in favor of legitimate oversight. Absolutely. I mean, I’ve testified before Congress, given the 38 years that I’ve been director, literally hundreds of times in many oversight hearings,” he said.
“They’ve clearly politicized it — I’m not political at all, period,” he said. “I’ve never been. And anybody who knows anything about me knows that that’s the case. But it is very clear when people are running their campaigns with an anti-Fauci element to it. I mean, that’s ridiculous. I mean, this is a public health issue.”
“I’d be more than happy to explain publicly or otherwise everything that we’ve done, and I could defend and explain everything that we’ve done from a public health standpoint present by,” he said.
NIAID Director Dr. Anthony Fauci tells @margbrennan he will testify in front of the next Congress if called upon. “The Republican House has said that they're going to and that's fine with me.” pic.twitter.com/dT6YzIbJ9E
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) November 27, 2022
Republican Rep. Andy Biggs issued a brutal warning to Dr. Anthony Fauci as he is set to give his last address to reporters before leaving government.
Fauci is set to address reporters on Tuesday, in what is expected to be the last time he gives a briefing before he leaves government for the first time in five decades at the end of the year. But that is not going to save him from the new Republican Congress and its investigations, the Arizona representative said.
“Fauci is scheduled to give a final briefing today before he leaves government. He thinks resigning will prevent him from being held accountable. He’s wrong. We’ll be bringing him in ASAP,” the representative said.
Fauci is scheduled to give a final briefing today before he leaves government.
He thinks resigning will prevent him from being held accountable.
He's wrong.
We'll be bringing him in ASAP.
— Rep Andy Biggs (@RepAndyBiggsAZ) November 22, 2022
It comes a month after Kentucky GOP Sen. Rand Paul threatened an investigation into Fauci if Republicans won in the midterms.
Paul said he plans to subpoena Fauci’s records if Republicans retake the Senate and he becomes chairman of a committee.
“If we win in November, if I’m chairman of a committee, if I have subpoena power, we’ll go after every one of [Fauci’s] records,” Paul said. “We’ll have an investigator go through this piece-by-piece because we don’t need this to happen again.”
Ohio GOP Rep. Jim Jordan made similar comments, saying Republicans will “uncover” what Fauci knew about the origins of the coronavirus pandemic.
Republican Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall, an ally to Jordan, released Fauci’s financial records. The records appear to show that Fauci and his wife have a combined net worth of around $10 million.
Records also showed that Fauci and his wife were paid tens of thousands of dollars to attend four galas and ceremonies — three of them virtual — during the pandemic.
Jordan argued that these revelations and recently released emails prove there’s a “need to investigate Fauci.”
