Billionaire Bill Gates reportedly warned then-President-elect Donald Trump about the dangers of a global pandemic in December 2016, according to a new report.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Gates warned Trump about the possibility of a pandemic and the necessity to prepare for it during a winter 2016 meeting at Trump Tower. He also warned other candidates.
Gates also said that he feels “terrible” about the pandemic, adding, “I wish I had done more to call attention to the danger.”
The Gates foundation has already committed hundreds of millions of dollars to fighting coronavirus.
Microsoft founder, Co-Chairman of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Bill Gates delivers a speech during the conference of Global Fund to Fight HIV, Tuberculosis and Malaria on October 10, 2019, in Lyon, central eastern France. Photo by LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP via Getty Images
Many have looked back to Gates’ past statements about the dangers of a global pandemic since coronavirus became widespread. In 2015, he warned of an “epidemic.” (RELATED: Bill Gates Predicted A Pandemic in 2015)
Many fringe internet conspiracy theorists have taken aim at Gates during the pandemic. At protests across the country, some have called for him to be jailed.