Debunked Bill Gates Conspiracy Gets A Boost From RFK Jr., Marla Maples
TOPLINE
Two people with familial ties to the White House spread a bizarre, baseless conspiracy theory on social media this week that linked billionaire Bill Gates and his work to aid in developing a coronavirus vaccine to an ulterior motive to control the masses via microchip, despite having been debunked by experts.
Bill Gates speaks at the 2019 New Economy Forum at China Center for International Economic Exchanges … [+]
VCG via Getty Images
KEY FACTS
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., son of Attorney General and Senator Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of President John F. Kennedy, has a documented history of promoting debunked theories about vaccines, specifically a discredited link with autism, and has even been called out for it by other members of the Kennedy clan.
This week he posted to his Instagram account a photo of Gates with the wild words “The digitalized economy? We get rid of cash and coins. We give you a chip. We put all your money in your chip. If you refuse a vaccine, we turn off the chip and you starve!”
Also uploaded with the photo were separate videos of Gates speaking about making vaccinations a high priority with other clips that reference identity control that appear to link a coronavirus vaccine with controlling or tracking people with microchips.
The conspiracy theory that Gates plans to install tracking devices into humans with the coronavirus vaccine his foundation is aiding has been debunked by experts but has still continued to gain traction in some circles since the onset of the pandemic.
Marla Maples, President Donald Trump’s ex-wife and mother to their daughter Tiffany, for the most part stays out of the D.C. spotlight, but made a rare statement when she shared Kennedy’s post, adding the words “Education is key. Ask questions. Dig deeper,” when she shared it on Instagram’s temporary Stories—though it is no longer available to view on her profile, it was screenshotted and posted by CNN reporter Betsy Klein on Twitter.
Gates has denied the accusations, saying in an interview with CBS in July that “I hope it’ll die down as people get the facts,” and according to The Daily Beast, Maples did not respond to a comment request by the outlet.
Key background
Gates is estimated by Forbes to be worth $113.7 billion. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has donated hundreds of millions of dollars to help fund speedy developments of treatments and vaccines for coronavirus. Maples and Kennedy aren’t the first celebrities to share coronavirus vaccine conspiracy content—Kanye West expressed his belief in the Gates conspiracy in a Forbes interview in July, and Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton faced backlash last month when he shared a video of Gates talking about a vaccine for coronavirus with words on the screen that read “I remember when I told my first lie.” In January 2017, before his inauguration, Trump met with Kennedy to talk about “issues pertaining to vaccines and immunizations,” said Sean Spicer, the incoming press secretary at the time. Kennedy later claimed Trump had tapped him to chair a vaccine commission, a statement Trump spokespeople denied. Trump himself has said he believes vaccines and autism are connected, having expressed his views during a 2015 Republican presidential debate and on Twitter. However, he has been supportive of developing a coronavirus vaccine to help end the pandemic.
Further reading
Trump’s Ex-Wife and a Kennedy Push Wild Bill Gates Coronavirus Conspiracy (The Daily Beast)
‘They Want To Put Chips Inside Us’: Kanye West Cites Debunked Anti-Vaccine Conspiracy Theories (Forbes)
Lewis Hamilton Slammed On Social Media For Sharing Anti-Vaxx Video (Forbes)
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