Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk angered communist China this weekend after a tweet of his drew attention to the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic, prompting a warning from Beijing.
Following the Department of Energy’s report concluding that a lab leak was likely the cause of the pandemic, Musk responded to a Twitter user who criticized Dr. Anthony Fauci.
“Dr. Anthony Fauci funded gain-of-function research at the Wuhan lab, lied to Congress about it, and now both the FBI & the Department of Energy have concluded that the coronavirus originated at the Wuhan lab,” the account wrote along with a video of Dr. Anthony Fauci testifying to Congress. “Does that mean Dr. Anthony Fauci funded the development of COVID-19?”
Musk replied, “He did it via a pass-through organization (EcoHealth).”
He did it via a pass-through organization (EcoHealth)
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 26, 2023
While Beijing did not directly respond through official channels, the CCP-controlled Global Mail denounced Musk as a right-wing extremist in a social media post and issued a warning, which likely referenced his Tesla factory in Shanghai.
The Global Times cautioned Musk against "breaking the pot of China," an expression similar to "bite the hand that feeds you," according to CNBC’s Eunice Yoon.
“Some may think @elonmusk made those remarks only to attack Fauci,” @globaltimesnews reads. But the posts he reposted “almost all link the origins of #Covid19 to China and the argument is repeatedly used by the US right wing and anti-China media hostile to China to frame #China.”
— Eunice Yoon (@onlyyoontv) February 28, 2023
FBI Director Christopher Wray on Tuesday acknowledged the bureau also believes in the lab leak theory.
In an interview with Fox News, he said “the FBI has for quite some time now assessed that the origins of the pandemic are most likely a potential lab incident in Wuhan.”