In a mere five words, Elon Musk, emerging darling of right-wing extremism and CEO of Twitter, managed to contain two hallmarks of the fascistic state when he tweeted Sunday: “My pronouns are Prosecute/Fauci.”
The main offenses: criminalizing lifelong public servants whose political views deviate from those in power and scapegoating minority communities.
The fact that over 1 million people liked his tweet — and that Musk has 121 million followers — is only part of why it should be taken so seriously.
While the balance of power will shift between political parties at federal and local levels, the civil service is what keeps government functioning and preserves democratic ideals.
To the first hallmark, it is absolutely crucial to democratic governance that the civil service be depoliticized. While the balance of power will shift between political parties at federal and local levels, the civil service is what keeps government functioning and preserves democratic ideals. The danger of targeting civil servants was brought into sharp relief in 2020, when then-President Donald Trump issued an executive order at the end of his term allowing federal agency heads to fire civil servants tasked with devising policy, removing long-standing employment protections that prevented civil servants from being fired for having incongruent political views with those in charge. This is what Musk was calling for, taking things a step further by suggesting we criminalize such civil servants.
Troy Cribb of legal forum Just Security has explained why moves like Trump’s executive order — and by extension, Musk’s suggestion — are so dangerous. “Now more than ever, our government needs experts with long-term institutional memory who serve to protect our national security, enforce our laws and preserve our health, safety and economic well-being. This order does just the opposite,” Cribb wrote. “It puts government on a constant learning curve, disrupts critical operations, and potentially sabotages future civil service reform. Despite claims to the contrary, the new order makes government less effective and less efficient.”
You may recall how Trump and members of his populist political movement targeted election officials following the 2020 election, including Ruby Freeman and her daughter, Wandrea’ ArShaye “Shaye” Moss, two Black women working in Fulton County, Georgia on Election Day. In his attempt to overthrow the election, Trump speciously claimed both women committed election fraud. His accusations sent them into hiding after death threats flooded in, among other horrifying consequences, which the two women testified to during the Jan. 6 committee hearings. Just as targeting election officials will reduce the diversity of the workforce by terrorizing minorities and/or progressives out, so will targeting members of the civil service. Efforts like these are a systematic attempt to hijack such institutions by creating hostile environments for anyone who ideologically deviates from the right, thereby ensuring the majority of its members are political adherents to right-wing, autocratic ideologies.
The heinous fascist messaging is twofold: 1) criminalize lifelong public servants whose political views deviate from your own 2) use your power/platform to target scapegoated minorities (I’m so fucking sick of this uninspired reactionary attempt at a quip with pronouns) pic.twitter.com/i3CQTbSdpk
— Noor Noman | نور نعمان 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️🍉 (@noorxnoman) December 11, 2022
And then we have the matter of making a mockery of trans people. I am so unbelievably sick of people using pronouns in a feeble attempt at being witty. It is lazy. It is uninspired. It is dangerous. From politicians (like Senate candidate Herschel Walker) to comedians (like Louis CK, who has admitted to sexual misconduct), pronouns have become low-hanging fruit — and an all-too-common punchline for right-wing populists and cryptofascists like Musk.
Pronouns have become low-hanging fruit — and an all-too-common punchline for right-wing populists and cryptofascists like Musk.
Walker mocked the issue at on of his last rallies in the final push for the Georgia Senate runoff: “Why are they bringing pronouns in our military? Pronouns? What the heck is a pronoun?” he said. “I’m sick and tired of that pronoun stuff. Aren’t y’all sick and tired of that pronoun stuff? So why don’t we call this senator ‘former senator’?” You can buy popular T-shirts on eBay, proudly emblazoned with lines such as, “I identify as Trumpgender. My pronoun is ultra MAGA” (whatever the hell that means).
In her writing, scholar Shon Faye discusses how trans people have become a primary pawn in this ideological game (a game which literally costs lives). “Trans people have become much more visible which is wonderful, but it also means we have become the scapegoat for grievances and problems that have their roots elsewhere,” Faye wrote in a 2021 op-ed. “A hostile consensus has been generated that views trans people as a nuisance at best, and at worst a threat to society. I’ve noticed that this rhetoric has amped up during the pandemic. We’ve all been sat inside glued to our phones which makes people ripe for online radicalization.”









