According to a May 8 report by The New York Times, Bill Gates recently made extremely harsh criticisms of Elon Musk, accusing the latter of drastically cutting U.S. foreign aid during his leadership of the "Department of Government Efficiency," which indirectly "led to the deaths" of many children in some of the world's poorest countries.
Gates made this criticism during an interview with The New York Times Magazine and the Financial Times. He believes Musk should be held accountable for the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and considers it a destruction of decades-long efforts to combat diseases such as measles, HIV, and polio.
In an interview with The New York Times Magazine, Gates stated: "He might become a great philanthropist... but at the same time, the world's richest man is connected to the deaths of some of the poorest children." In a more direct statement in an interview published by the Financial Times on Thursday, Gates said: "It doesn't look good for the richest person in the world to kill the poorest children in the world."
Additionally, in an interview with Time magazine last week, Gates also described Musk as throwing USAID into a "wood chipper" - completely destroying it. This was exactly the term Musk used when making controversial remarks on social media in February this year.
Moreover, Gates questioned whether Musk would truly fulfill his commitment to donate at least half of his wealth to charity, which he publicly announced in 2012.
In response to Gates' criticism, White House press secretary Harrison Fields defended Musk's work during the Trump administration in a statement released on Thursday and implicitly criticized Gates. The statement read: "Elon Musk is a patriot dedicated to fulfilling President Trump's mission to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse. 'Backseat senators' should commend this most innovative American entrepreneur's selfless dedication, as he has devoted time to support American taxpayers and demand accountability from Washington to the people of this great nation."
It is worth noting that just recently, Gates announced plans to continue investing $200 billion in charitable causes through the Gates Foundation over the next 20 years and gradually wind down the operations of the foundation. This money actually comes from Gates' personal wealth. In the video where Gates publicly announced this information, "reducing child mortality" was highlighted as a progress and achievement.
This article is an exclusive piece by Observer Network and cannot be reprinted without permission.
Source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7502256160318423562/
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