A war of words erupts after Bill Gates blames Elon Musk’s DOGE-led USAID shutdown for harming the world’s poorest children.
May 10, 2025: Billionaire Elon Musk has lashed out at Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, calling him a “huge liar” in response to Gates’ criticism of the shutdown of USAID by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) — an agency now associated with Musk.
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The spat escalated after Bill Gates, in an interview with Financial Times, made a scathing comment:
“The picture of the world’s richest man killing the world’s poorest children is not a pretty one.”
He accused Musk of “acting through ignorance” and alleged that halting USAID operations had led to the expiration of life-saving medicines, disrupted HIV treatment in Mozambique, and could trigger the resurgence of diseases like measles and polio.
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Reacting to a snippet of Gates’ interview posted on X, Musk wrote:
“Gates is a huge liar.”
The post he replied to sarcastically referenced Gates’ claim:
“Bill Gates: ‘DOGE will cost 2 million lives’. This man is a disgrace to humanity.”
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The DOGE’s controversial move to shutter USAID in February 2025 was earlier defended by Musk, who described the agency as “a criminal organisation” and declared, “Time for it to die.”
Gates further stated that due to the funding freeze, a hospital in Gaza Province, Mozambique—confused for Gaza in the Middle East—lost critical HIV prevention support for pregnant women, endangering newborns.
“I’d love for him to go in and meet the children that have now been infected with HIV because he cut that money,” Gates added.
This public feud underscores growing global concerns over billionaire-led policy interventions and their humanitarian fallout.
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Elon Musk, Bill Gates, USAID shutdown, DOGE controversy, humanitarian aid, Mozambique HIV funding, Gates Musk feud, global health funding