Elon Musk has responded bluntly with five choice words after Bill Gates accused him of endangering children’s lives.
Musk’s involvement in politics has stirred debate since he was named as the lead advisor for the newly formed Office of Fiscal Reform (OFR) earlier this year.
Though the OFR isn’t officially a government agency, Musk has acted as an external consultant to the Trump administration, focusing on reducing federal expenditures.
While Musk has recently stepped back from his advisory duties, during his initial appointment he promised to drastically reduce spending. Much of this has been achieved by terminating existing contracts and implementing widespread staff reductions.
In an interview on CBS Mornings, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates warned that these drastic measures could result in the deaths of up to two million people globally.
Referencing his philanthropic efforts to provide life-saving vaccines, Gates said: “If these funding reductions aren’t reversed, we could see the death toll rise to more than six million. Instead of improving, the numbers could climb again.”
The interviewer responded: “So that’s an increase of two million?”
Gates confirmed: “Exactly.”
This came during a segment where Gates discussed his decision to donate nearly all of his fortune to charity.
He said previously: “After I’m gone, people might say a lot of things, but I want to make sure that ‘he died rich’ isn’t one of them. There are too many crises to ignore while sitting on wealth.”
Following the interview, Musk appeared to be unimpressed and shared his thoughts online.
Posting to his platform X (formerly Twitter), Musk simply wrote: “Gates is a huge liar.”
He also shared a video clip from a previous appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, where he took aim at Gates.
In the podcast, Musk said: “Some very wealthy and influential individuals who were close to Epstein include Bill Gates, Bill Clinton, Reid Hoffman, among others.”
Gates has spoken in the past about his interactions with Epstein.
In a Wall Street Journal interview earlier this year, he said: “Looking back, spending time with Epstein was a mistake. He often connected with powerful people through other high-profile connections. I believed it might advance global health initiatives, but it didn’t — it was a big misstep.”
