Microsoft Corp. co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates is a well-known proponent of vaccine research and development. But did he once tweet that vaccines should be added to the food supply?
“Vaccines in our food supply solves the problem of vaccine hesitancy,” reads what looks like a screenshot of a tweet attributed to Gates and shared on Facebook. People shared the image alongside a photo of comedian and actor Bill Cosby, and drew a nefarious parallel between Gates’ alleged action and date rape. Other versions displayed the tweet with a photo of Gates smiling next to a batch of test tubes.
Our ruling
Social media posts claim Bill Gates tweeted that “vaccines in our food supply solves the problem of vaccine hesitancy.”
He didn’t.
The tweet was fabricated and came from a photo illustration that NewsPunch used in a story about comments Gates made in 2018. In that talk, he said nothing about using food to force vaccinations on people.
We rate this claim Pants on Fire!
RELATED: No, mRNA vaccines aren’t widely used in livestock and can’t get into the food supply
Truth-o-meter Ruling
IF YOUR TIME IS SHORT
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Microsoft Corp. co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates didn’t post a tweet in support of adding vaccines to the food supply to solve vaccine hesitancy.
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This fake tweet appears to come from a website called NewsPunch, which featured the image in a false story about Gates supposedly trying to force mRNA vaccines on people by pumping them into the food supply.
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The story centers around comments Gates made in 2018 — years before the COVID-19 pandemic and mRNA vaccines — about vaccinating livestock. But he didn’t say anything about using the food supply to force vaccinations on people, as this suggests.
Statement
Context
an Instagram postSpeaker/Target
Statement Date
Our Sources
Instagram post, Jan. 18, 2023
Twitter, Bill Gates, accessed Jan. 20, 2023
Polititweet, Bill Gates, accessed Jan. 20, 2023
NewsPunch, "Bill Gates vows to pump mRNA into food supply to ‘force-jab’ the unvaccinated," Jan. 10, 2023
Twitter, post by DFID, Jan. 26, 2018
HealthFeedback.com, Misrepresented 2018 clip of Bill Gates trigger inaccurate claims that mRNA COVID-19 vaccines for livestock could transfer to people through diet, Jan. 18, 2023
Translations
Language: en