Here We Go Again: #BillGatesBioTerrorist Trends as Netizens Blame Billionaire for Monkeypox

It looks like billionaire Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates is stuck in a vicious circle: just as conspiracy theories about him and coronavirus start to wane, new ones emerge with the outbreak of monkeypox, a viral disease similar to smallpox which has recently spread to a host of countries.

Some netizens expressed their opinions that the billionaire was behind the "new" disease on social media this week, with #BillGatesBioTerrorist temporarily trending on Twitter. Others claimed that Gates predicted the outbreak, ignoring the fact that the Microsoft man actually warned of a possible smallpox terrorist attack and didn’t mention moneypox at all. Finally, other netizens alleged that the philanthropist was planning to earn off moneypox vaccine sales.

None of Twitter users provided hard evidence to support their claims, and Republican Lawmaker Marjorie Taylor Greene followed this trend by spreading a slew of moneypox conspiracy theories in the latest issue of her MTG:Live show on Facebook*.

The GOP lawmaker went on to speculate about an unspecified group of people, whom she only described as "they", showing "disgusting" pictures of monkeypox patients, including children, to the public. Taylor Greene also suggested that a new mask-up order might be on its way under the pretext of stopping the monkeypox outbreak. Moneypox rarely spreads via airborne channels, unlike the highly infectious COVID-19 which forced us to cover our faces in public spaces for two years.

Bill Gates, as well as with 5G masts, became one of the main targets of conspiracy theorists by COVID-19 deniers over the past two years. He was accused of everything from inventing coronavirus to profiteering from vaccines to using the anti-COVID jabs to insert tracking chips into peoples' bodies.