‘They Want To Put Chips Inside Us’: Kanye West Cites Debunked Anti-Vaccine Conspiracy Theories
TOPLINE
In an interview with Forbes on Wednesday, rapper Kanye West, who says he’s serious about his bid for president, espoused a conspiracy that a coronavirus vaccine could be used to implant microchips into people.
Rapper Kanye West speaks during a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, not pictured, in the … [+]
KEY FACTS
West told Forbes Chief Content Editor Randall Lane he’s “extremely cautious” about a coronavirus vaccine, calling it “the mark of the beast” and declaring “they want to put chips inside of us, they want to do all kinds of things, to make it where we can’t cross the gates of heaven.”
The remark about chips seems to refer to pervasive—and debunked—conspiracy theories that Microsoft founder Bill Gates is attempting to implant microchips into billions of people through a coronavirus vaccine, and that Dr. Anthony Fauci said every American should be microchipped.
West also seemed to make reference to another disproven conspiracy theory–that Gates tested a polio vaccine in India and paralyzed nearly 500,000 children–saying, “so many of our children that are being vaccinated and paralyzed.”
These theories could have a dangerous impact on public health, with an Associated Press-NORC poll in May finding that just 50% of Americans would definitely get a coronavirus vaccine, numbers that Harvard epidemiology professor Marc Lipsitch told Forbes “would certainly make containment harder.”
West appears to have picked up these and other right-wing and evangelical views–such as that Planned Parenthood clinics have been “placed inside cities by white supremacists to do the Devil’s work”–in recent years, while living part-time on his ranch in secluded Cody, Wyoming.
Key Background
Anti-vaccine conspiracies have abounded in the U.S. since the coronavirus pandemic began. The theories about Fauci and Gates wanting to microchip Americans appear to have originated from Facebook posts, but have since extended to other parts of the internet and become mainstays of fringe politics.
Key Quote
“I’ve never been involved in any sort of microchip type thing,” Gates said in June. “It’s almost hard to deny this stuff because it’s so stupid or strange that even to repeat it gives it credibility.”
Big Number
44%. West’s views may even be considered mainstream orthodoxy in some Republican circles. A YouGov/Yahoo poll in May found that 44% of Republicans and 50% of Fox News viewers believe the conspiracy theory that Gates is trying to implant microchips into people. That’s compared to 19% of Democrats and 24% of independents.
What To Watch For
West says he is serious about his presidential bid. “Like anything I’ve ever done in my life, I’m doing to win,” he told Forbes.
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