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Elon Musk says he won’t take Covid vaccine and calls Bill Gates a ‘knucklehead’

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SpaceX and Tesla’s odd-ball boss Elon Musk said that he nor his family will take the Coronavirus vaccine on the New York Times’ “Sway” opinion podcast, the New York Post reports.

“I’m not at risk, neither are my kids,” the eccentric entrepreneur, who is not a stranger to making controversial statements, said to host Kara Swisher on Monday’s edition of the podcast.

Musk also bashed the United Kingdom’s nationwide lockdown measures as a “no-win situation” amid soaring virus cases in the U.K., adding that it has “diminished my faith in humanity.”

He then suggested that, as a more targeted alternative, “anyone who is at risk” should be “quarantined until the storm passes.” This earned him a swift rebuke from Swisher, with her citing the number of lives that could potentially be lost if such a limited lockdown were implemented.

“Everybody dies,” Elon Musk

“Everybody dies,” he remarked.

The 49-year-old billionaire has made similar comments regarding the pandemic in the past. He has previously called the lockdowns of various countries, especially the U.S.’s, “unethical” and “de facto house arrest,” RT reports.

While on the podcast, Musk took the time to point out that his commercial space company SpaceX “didn’t skip a day” throughout the pandemic’s duration in order to highlight how, in his mind, the quarantines were illogical. He further justified continuing to run SpaceX, saying, “We had national security clearance because we were doing national security work,” and that, “We sent astronauts to the Space Station and back.”

During the latter part of the podcast, Musk stirred even more controversy by calling Bill Gates a “knucklehead.” This follows the Microsoft founder’s previous criticism of Musk’s skepticism toward the virus.

“Gates said something about me not knowing what I was doing,” the Boring Company chief told Swisher. Then, in reference to Tesla manufacturing equipment for the German biopharmaceutical firm CureVac, he added, “It’s like, ‘Hey, knucklehead, we actually make the vaccine machines for CureVac, that company you’re invested in.’”

This is in response to a specific CNBC interview in July that Gates participated in. In the aforementioned interview, Gates said he hoped that Musk “doesn’t confuse areas he’s not involved with” following his claim that the Tesla CEO had very little knowledge about vaccines.

As the global death toll from the Coronavirus surpasses 1 million, according to Johns Hopkins University, it is still uncertain when there will be a working vaccine. Most experts estimate that a vaccine will likely become widely available by mid-2021, the BBC recently reported. Scientists are aiming to develop a vaccine within the span of a few months, while vaccines tend to take years—even decades—to develop, according to the same article.

You can follow Douglas Braff on Twitter @Douglas_P_Braff.

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BREAKING: Trump Assassination Attempt Hearing Turns Into Screaming Match

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What was supposed to be a hearing on the Secret Service agency’s failures leading to two assassination attempts against President-elect Trump, led to a shouting match on Capitol Hill. Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe, “shouted at Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas, after the GOP lawmaker lambasted the service for security lapses that made Trump a target of two failed shooting attempts” according to Fox News, which details:

The outburst happened after Fallon showed a picture of Presidents Biden and Trump at a 9/11 commemoration ceremony this year and suggested that as the Special Agent in Charge of that detail, Rowe should have been close enough to Biden to be in the picture. Rowe was not pictured.

“Who is usually at an event like this closest to the President of the United States?” Fallon asked, pointing at the photo. “Were you the special agent in charge of the detail that day?”

Rowe said the security detail was present but out of view of the camera. As he spoke, he became enraged and accused Fallon of using 9/11 for political purposes.

“That is the day where we remember more than 3,000 people that have died on 9/11. I actually responded to Ground Zero,” Rowe said. “I was there going through the ashes of the World Trade Center.”

“I’m not asking that, I’m asking you, if you were… were you the special agent in charge!?” Fallon interrupted, shouting at Rowe.

Rowe raised his voice in response. “I was there to show respect for a Secret Service member that died on 9/11!” he yelled back.

“Do not invoke 9/11 for political purposes!” Rowe screamed at the lawmaker.

“I’m not,” Fallon fired back, as the committee chairman demanded order and banged his gavel.

“You are, sir. You are out of line, congressman!” Rowe fumed. “Way out of line.”

Fallon then accused Rowe of “playing politics” by refusing to answer his question.

“I am a public servant who has served this nation,” Rowe retorted, saying he served on the nation’s “darkest day.”

“You will not politicize it!” Rowe thundered.

WATCH EXCHANGE: FOX NEWS

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