Invoice Gates on Thursday accused DOGE czar Elon Musk of “killing the world’s poorest children” by pushing to dismantle the US international assist infrastructure.
The Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist informed the Monetary Instances that Musk’s assist for eliminating funding to the US Company for Worldwide Improvement (USAID) was based mostly on ignorance and had real-world penalties.
“The picture of the world’s richest man killing the world’s poorest children is not a pretty one,” he mentioned.
Gates particularly pointed to Musk’s function in chopping funding to a hospital in Mozambique that helps stop moms with HIV from transmitting the virus to their infants.
This system was defunded below the mistaken perception — reportedly unfold inside Musk’s orbit — that the US was supplying condoms to Hamas in Gaza.
“I’d love for him to go in and meet the children that have now been infected with HIV because he cut that money,” Gates mentioned.
A White Home spokesperson pushed again on Gates’ feedback.
“Elon Musk is a patriot working to fulfill President Trump’s mission to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse,” Harrison Fields, a White Home spokesperson, informed The Put up.
“Backbenchers should celebrate the selfless efforts of America’s most innovative entrepreneur, who is dedicating time to support American taxpayers and hold Washington accountable to the people of this great nation.”
In February, the Musk-led Division of Authorities Effectivity (DOGE) successfully shut down USAID, declaring that it was “time for it to die.”
In line with Gates, the cuts have already led to life-saving vaccines and drugs being left to run out in warehouses and are rising the chance of outbreaks of ailments reminiscent of HIV, measles and polio.
The criticism got here as Gates unveiled a plan to speed up the Gates Basis’s work over the subsequent twenty years, pledging to spend the majority of his fortune earlier than shutting down the group by 2045.
He expects the muse to allocate over $200 billion throughout that point, doubling what it spent in its first 25 years.
“It gives us clarity,” he mentioned. “We’ll have a lot more money because we’re spending down over the 20 years, as opposed to making an effort to be a perpetual foundation.”
Gates mentioned the urgency of the plan was partly pushed by Musk’s function in gutting US growth assist.
Musk, who known as USAID “a criminal organization,” had “no understanding of what the US agency did or how it operated,” Gates mentioned.
The 2 tech titans have clashed for years over the function of philanthropy.
Though Musk signed the Giving Pledge in 2012, he later informed Gates that charitable giving was “bulls–t” and insisted that business ventures like Tesla provided more practical options to world issues.
Their relationship soured additional in 2022 after Gates shorted Tesla inventory.
Musk retaliated by posting a mocking picture of Gates on Twitter (now X) with the caption: “In case u need to lose a boner fast.”
Gates has taken a extra cautious tone with President Donald Trump with the hope that some funding could possibly be restored.
Nonetheless, he warned that Trump’s return may threaten the Gates Basis’s tax-exempt standing and criticized his appointment of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as well being secretary.
“Kennedy had attacked vaccines, and specifically my role… with a lot of falsehoods,” Gates mentioned.
A spokesperson for the Division of Well being and Human Companies informed The Put up that Kennedy “is not anti-vaccine” however is quite “pro-safety, pro-transparency, and pro-accountability.”
“His longstanding advocacy has always focused on ensuring that vaccines and other medical interventions meet the highest standards of safety and are supported by Gold Standard Science,” the spokesperson informed The Put up.
“He believes Americans deserve radical transparency so they can make informed healthcare decisions.”
The Put up has sought remark from Musk.
