On NBC’s Today show Tuesday morning, co-host Savannah Guthrie sat down for an exclusive interview with billionaire Microsoft founder Bill Gates and fretted that his fellow billionaire Elon Musk taking over Twitter would lead to a surge in “misinformation.” She pushed that fear after complaining that the response to the pandemic has “been so politicized.”
“Well, you know, misinformation is obviously a big issue that a lot of folks like you are worried about,” Guthrie remarked before specifically noting how “Elon Musk just recently announced moves to acquire Twitter.” She then worried: “I wonder if you are concerned about the proliferation of misinformation given some of his views about expanding what he refers to as free speech on Twitter and what you think of the acquisition.”
Gates offered this vague reply: “Well, the digital realm has facilitated, you know, kind of interesting but wrong ideas spreading very quick. And we need to innovate so that digital realm is more of a positive thing of getting the truth out and that people are seeing, hey, this is false.”
Guthrie pressed: “Do you worry about Elon Musk in particular?”
In his second response, Gates was actually complimentary to Musk:
Well, Elon, you wouldn’t want to underestimate Elon. What he did at Tesla is amazing, helping with climate change. What he did at SpaceX. You know, will he this time make that improvement?...You know, Elon thinks he can improve Twitter. Well, I don’t know specifically what he’ll do but, you know, it is – there’s an opportunity, and we need innovation in that space.
Moments earlier in the discussion, Guthrie whined: “When you look at how the U.S. and the world responded to COVID-19, whether it’s masks or vaccines or shut downs, closures, it’s become so political....It’s been so politicized.”
This coming from a morning show that fretted in March of 2020 that the growing pandemic might “threaten” to curb then-candidate Joe Biden’s campaign “momentum.” Just one month later, the Today show blamed then-President Trump for “growing discrimination” against Asian Americans because of his habit of accurately pointing out that the virus started in China and was initially covered up by the authoritarian nation’s communist regime.
Gates lamented: “Yeah, it’s unfortunate that we didn’t get trusted voices in both parties talking about the benefit of masks and vaccines so that it wasn’t a political issue.”
Guthrie then parroted Biden: “But let’s talk about misinformation. Because that has been a hallmark, unfortunately, of this pandemic. President Biden rather famously said last July that misinformation on social media is killing people. Do you agree?”
“Absolutely....It’s terrible,” Gates declared.
It was with that dire context that Guthrie suggested Musk would spread “misinformation,” as if he was pushing pandemic-related conspiracy theories.
This was not the first time Gates was asked about cracking down on supposed misinformation on social media by NBC. During a 3rd Hour Today show interview in February of 2021, co-host Al Roker asked the billionaire: “What do you say to the climate deniers....So much of this has been about misinformation. What responsibility do you think that big tech has in this?” Gates worried that such “conspiracy theories” from climate skeptics were allowed on social media.
Guthrie’s worried Tuesday chat with Gates was brought to viewers by Subaru and Samsung. You can fight back by letting these advertisers know what you think of them sponsoring such content.
Here is a transcript of the May 3 exchange:
7:35 AM ET
(...)
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: When you look at how the U.S. and the world responded to COVID-19, whether it’s masks or vaccines or shut downs, closures, it’s become so political. I wonder, if it happened again, if it was March 2020 all over again with COVID-19, would we even be able to mount as effective a response as we did last time around? It’s been so politicized.
BILL GATES: Yeah, it’s unfortunate that we didn’t get trusted voices in both parties talking about the benefit of masks and vaccines so that it wasn’t a political issue. I think everybody does support the health workers who were heroes. I think they support the innovation, where we got the vaccine out faster than ever before. And that has saved millions of lives. Even that vaccine, we can make a better one where you never get infected. So, you know, innovation, like in many areas, is where I see a potential for consensus and for avoiding most of the damage.
GUTHRIE: Yeah, the book – if you want to geek out on some of the innovations and where the technology is, a vaccine you can inhale, a pan vaccine, it’s in there. But let’s talk about misinformation. Because that has been a hallmark, unfortunately, of this pandemic. President Biden rather famously said last July that misinformation on social media is killing people. Do you agree?
GATES: Absolutely. It’s been weird that, you know, vaccines have been attacked as, you know, being overall negative or there’s some conspiracy here. It’s terrible.
GUTHRIE: Well, some of it affects you. You’re a part of these conspiracy theories.
GATES: That is a very weird thing. That just because I support vaccines to save millions of lives, people are saying no – you know, I make money from vaccines or that I’m trying to, you know, cause death or track or a lot of strange stuff. Hard to understand why that is.
GUTHRIE: Well, you know, misinformation is obviously a big issue that a lot of folks like you are worried about. Elon Musk just recently announced moves to acquire Twitter. I wonder if you are concerned about the proliferation of misinformation given some of his views about expanding what he refers to as free speech on Twitter and what you think of the acquisition.
GATES: Well, the digital realm has facilitated, you know, kind of interesting but wrong ideas spreading very quick. And we need to innovate so that digital realm is more of a positive thing of getting the truth out and that people are seeing, hey, this is false.
GUTHRIE: Do you worry about Elon Musk in particular?
GATES: Well, Elon, you wouldn’t want to underestimate Elon. What he did at Tesla is amazing, helping with climate change. What he did at SpaceX. You know, will he this time make that improvement? You know, should there be laws that strike a better balance of free speech versus, you know, conspiracy theories confusing people? You know, Elon thinks he can improve Twitter. Well, I don’t know specifically what he’ll do but, you know, it is – there’s an opportunity, and we need innovation in that space.
(...)
