Microsoft founder Bill Gates used an appearance with the far-left co-hosts of ABC’s “The View” to complain about fellow billionaire Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency’s efforts to shutter USAID.
“Well, Elon, his private sector work, you know, has been very innovative, really fantastic,” Gates said following news that USAID offices had been closed and the charity’s funds frozen.
“A lot of private sector people, when they get into government, they don’t take the time necessarily to see what the good work is or why it’s structured the way it is, so I’m a little worried, particularly with this USAID stuff,” Gates continued.
“My foundation partners with USAID on nutrition and getting vaccines out, and, you know, there’s incredible people,” he added. “You know, they’re not actually worms that work there. So, you know, hopefully, we’ll get some of that work back in shape. In fact, if we don’t, you know, you could have literally millions of deaths.
USAID has recently come under scrutiny as part of Elon Musk’s DOGE initiative to reduce government waste and spending, placing added focus on the record of Samantha Power, the agency’s administrator throughout much of the Biden administration, Fox News noted.
Power, who served as the United States ambassador to the United Nations from 2013 to 2017 during the Obama administration after a role on his National Security Council, took leadership of USAID in the early days of the Biden administration. She was tasked with overseeing the tens of billions of dollars allocated for foreign aid.
“One of the most pressing challenges facing our nation is restoring and strengthening America’s global leadership as a champion of democracy, human rights, and the dignity of all people,” then-Vice President-elect Kamala Harris said in a statement at the time of Power’s appointment. “Few Americans are better equipped to help lead that work than Ambassador Samantha Power.”
Power was directly involved in the Obama administration’s surveillance of Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and attempted to obtain Michael Flynn’s redacted identity through an “unmasking” request on at least seven occasions, as previously reported by Fox News Digital.
