Bill Gates claims that President Donald Trump, the most outspoken vaccine safety President in history, is suddenly on board with a universal flu vaccine.

Gates, one of the world’s largest vaccine philanthropist, says he discussed the premise of the universal flu shot with Trump last month in the Oval Office. Gates described the premise of a universal flu vaccine as “American innovation.” Gates conveyed to Trump that pushing a universal flu vaccine would essentially be added to the President’s legacy.

“You should associate yourself with American innovation. Wouldn’t you love to have the universal flu vaccine be something that really got kicked off and energized by you?” Gates said during the Oval Office meeting.

Gates claims that President Trump is “super interested” in the concept of such a robust undertaking. He says that Trump was so excited by the idea, that he summoned FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb into the conversation via phone. According to Gates, the President asked Gottlieb about the idea of a single vaccine that could prevent seasonal viruses as well as “prevent pandemics.”

“Hey, Gates says there’s a universal flu vaccine. Is that crazy?” Gates says President Trump stated to Gottlieb.

Gottlieb responded by telling the President that “there was some good work underway,” but he’d “need to look into it.” Gottlieb has confirmed that he did indeed speak to President Trump and Gates regarding the matter, however, he wouldn’t confirm what was said.

With a number of states pushing for mandatory vaccination legislation, the idea of a President being onboard with any sort of vaccine is a precarious place. But what could be worse for those opposed to mandatory vaccine is the fact that the White House Science Advisor position is currently empty, which could lead to logical speculation that Gates may fill that role.  John Holdren is the last to hold that title which lasted until the end of Obama’s tenure.

‘Hey, maybe we should have a science adviser.’” Gates claims he told Trump.

“Did I want to be the science adviser?” Gates says Trump replied with.

Gates claims that such a role wouldn’t be a “good use of his time.” Gates further stated he couldn’t validate the President’s seriousness over the offer, which could have been asked in jest.

This was Gates third total meeting with Trump, all of which have taken place since 2016 and all of which have included the topic of vaccines.

Of course, Senator Pan, the authoritarian California legislator that introduced SB-1424 to curb online dissent over liberal policy, was ecstatic over hearing about the meeting.

While President Trump is, without question, rather unpredictable and unconventional politically, he’s voiced strong concerns in regards to vaccine safety, mostly during his 2016 Presidential run. CNN still uses Trump’s vaccine tweets as “evidence” of the President’s history of “false statements.”

The President initially garnered widespread support/controversy over putting together an official Vaccine Safety commission to be headed up by Robert F Kennedy Jr. The program has largely been a flop and inconsequential, leading many to believe that Trump has abandoned the concept, either due to internal political pressures or a change in mentality.

Additionally, the flu shot itself is one of the lesser accepted vaccines, even in mainstream media terms. The vaccine is commonly lambasted as a failure, including this year’s flu shot formula. Even staunchly pro-vaccine people have a tendency to either question or criticize the flu shot. Mandatory workplace flu shots, particularly in the health field, have led to a series of lawsuits in several states. Nurses unions have largely prevailed in seeking justice for fired workers.

Gates, however, is focused staunchly on “pandemic threats” as his hook for Trump’s support. Aside from Trump’s potential skepticism over vaccines, Trump ran a campaign hyperfocused on lessening global spending and “making America great again.” In Gates’ vision, spending abroad would be seriously increased. Gates claims that pandemic survival is dependent on U.S. investment abroad and that pandemics “know no boundaries.”

Pitching a universal flu shot as a “pandemic stopper” is a wild sentiment, even for showman Gates. However, using pandemic fears is undoubtedly a strategic road inward to Whitehouse funding. Gates is one of the richest men in the world, he’s already put billions of dollars on the table for worldwide vaccine programs. Adding in an infinite, “paper print friendly” U.S. financing aspect into the mix would infuse more billions into Gates overall agenda.

Photo by Gage Skidmore
Photo by OnInnovation

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