Bill Gates addresses Covid conspiracies that focus on him: ‘They want a bogeyman’
“Malevolence is a lot easier to understand than biology,” Mr Gates told the BBC
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Bill Gates has addressed theories linking him to COVID-19 conspiracies in a recent interview.
In a recent interview with the BBC, Mr Gates defended his support and funding of vaccines, saying that he thinks money invested in the life-saving measure is better spent than money that finances the prospect of humans travelling to Mars — referencing Elon Musk’s SpaceX plans to colonise the planet.
“During the pandemic, there were tens of millions of messages that I intentionally caused it, or I’m tracking people. It’s true I’m involved with vaccines, but I’m involved with vaccines to save lives,” Mr Gates said.
Mr Gates, whose foundation has donated large sums to the development of vaccines, had previously told The Guardian that he often ran into people “yelling at [him] that[he’s] putting chips into people.”
Mr Gates told the BBC that he did not expect the backlash, but understood that anti-vaxxers were looking for a “boogeyman.”
“These messages sort of inverted that. I guess people are looking for the ‘boogeyman’ behind the curtain, the over-simplistic explanation. Malevolence is a lot easier to understand than biology,” he said.
Mr Gates said Mr Musk could one day become a “great philanthropist,” but criticised his investments in research to travel to Mars.
“It’s actually quite expensive to go to Mars. You can buy measles vaccines and save lives for $1,000 per life saved,” he told the network. “And so [that] just kind of grounds you, as in - don’t go to Mars.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments