White House petition to investigate Gates foundation garners more than 600,000 signatures

A White House petition that was launched in April to investigate Bill and Melinda Gates for “crimes against humanity and medical malpractice” has amassed six times the number of signatures needed in order to get an official response. 

Created by "C.S.," the petition states that Microsoft founder Gates should not be trusted with helping finding a cure for COVID-19. In one portion, the petition states: “At the forefront of this is Bill Gates, who has publicly stated his interest in 'reducing population growth' by 10–15%, by means of vaccination. Gates, UNICEF & WHO have already been credibly accused of intentionally sterilizing Kenyan children through the use of a hidden HCG antigen in tetanus vaccines.”

The petition was launched on April 10. Within days, it garnered 100,000 signatures, thereby meeting the site's terms to review the petition, place it in front of appropriate policy experts, and issue an official response. 

As Sunday night, more than 618,000 people have signed the petition. 

Gates, the Microsoft founder, has been one of the world's most generous health donors, pledging and spending billions to address the AIDS crisis, mosquito-born diseases and pandemic preparedness. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation this spring committed $1.6 billion to the Gavi vaccine alliance, and an additional $100 million to support COVID-19 vaccines in impoverished countries.

But his philanthropy has sown distrust among some fearful that Gates relies too much on technology and vaccines and the World Health Organization.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the nephew of former President John F. Kennedy, has sharply criticized Gates for what he describes as a “messianic conviction that he is ordained to save the world with technology.”

Gates has addressed the criticisms, mostly recently two months ago after the petition began. His foundation said the attacks are often based on misinformation.

“Whenever science intervenes to stop a disease, there’s often an adjacent outbreak of misinformation,” Mark Suzman, CEO of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, told the Wall Street Journal. “These falsehoods can spread faster than the disease itself—and cause real harm.

“Covid-19 is infectious and deadly enough. We don’t need misinformation to make it even deadlier,” he added. “Right now, one of the best things we can do to stop the spread of this disease is spread the facts.”

The petition is listed as among the most popular on the White House's "We the People" page.