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Bill Gates to work with Biden-Harris administration to bring 'surging' Covid-19 pandemic under control

The Microsoft founder also looks forward to working with them 'on issues like poverty and climate change, and addressing issues of inequality and opportunity at home'

President-elect Joe Biden has been receiving congratulatory messages from world leaders, Hollywood stars and other public figures ever since it was announced that he would be replacing Donald Trump at the White House. Among them was Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, who took to Twitter to congratulate Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, expressing that he was looking forward to working with their administration.

With Americans, and non-Americans, waiting for the Biden-Harris administration to get things started, Gates spoke about how he was looking forward to working with the new administration to ensure the Covid-19 pandemic was brought under control. However, the reactions to Gates' tweet were mostly negative, with some mocking the coming administration posting memes that read, "You think they let you choose the president" and others speaking of getting mandatory vaccines. 

In a long message -- broken down into two tweets, Gates wrote, "Congratulations to President-Elect Biden and Vice President-Elect Harris. Thank you to the election officials and campaign workers who worked tirelessly to ensure a record number of Americans could cast a ballot and have it counted during such a challenging time for our country. I look forward to working with the new administration and leaders on both sides in Congress on getting the surging pandemic under control, engaging partners around the world on issues like poverty and climate change, and addressing issues of inequality and opportunity at home."

His tweet mentioned "climate change" and "issues of inequality" - an indirect dig at President Donald Trump, who has been accused of not paying enough attention to them. This, of course, comes as no surprise, as Gates has expressed his displeasure with the Trump administration when it comes to handling the Covid-19 pandemic that has hit the United States very hard - the virus has claimed more than 238,000 lives, with cases surging to 9.7 million.

Gates told The Wall Street Journal that he warned Trump in 2016 about "the risks of a pandemic in the country," wanting him to make it a "national priority". Fox News reported that in an interview, Gates said, "I wish I had done more to call attention to the danger. I feel terrible. The whole point of talking about it was that we could take action and minimize the damage."

Even Gates' wife, Melinda, revealed that the government was "lacking leadership at the federal level" in the fight against the pandemic. Reports say that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced in April that it would contribute $150 million to fight the pandemic. Some of the funds even went to WHO, an organization that Trump has slammed and halted funding to. Gates slammed Trump over that, saying it "is as dangerous as it sounds."

As MEAWW earlier reported, Biden's transition team already has the pandemic as a priority. The team is being led by Ted Kaufman, who had served on Biden's staff for more than two decades, even filling Biden's Senate seat when he was elected as vice president in 2008.

The reactions to Gate's tweet weren't positive to say the least, with one user tweeting, "When Bill Gates first message for president elect Biden refers to the ‘pandemic’ you know you’re about to get a mandatory vaccination all across the USA." Another added, "God help America.,they have effectively voted Bill Gates and the elitist as president. Biden is their puppet." Yet another Twitter user added, "Why is Bill Gates allowed to spread misinformation! Biden is projected to win not president elect! Twitter should censor this guy! He is not even a doctor and is trying to tell us what to do about Covid!" 

The push for vaccines seems to be a sensitive topic with many seeing ulterior motives in Gates' congratulatory tweet to Biden. "Biden BARELY president elect and Bill gates pushing vaccines. LMFAOOOOOO this country is a joke," wrote another user. Other simply refused to believe that Biden has won, with one user adding, "@BillGates STFU Joe Biden is not president elect. We know what your plan is. Donald Trump will win. We the people demand a recount. #maGra Make America Recount Again."