Elon Musk slams Bill Gates as a ‘knucklehead’ and ‘stupid person’ – and defends vow not to take coronavirus vaccine
ELON Musk called Bill Gates a "knucklehead" on Monday and insisted he won't take a coronavirus vaccine.
The 49-year-old SpaceX and Tesla CEO slammed his fellow billionaire and revealed his shocking plans on the New York Times podcast “Sway.”
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Elon Musk called Bill Gates a 'knucklehead' on Monday Credit: AFP or licensors![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 0.6 1"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
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Bill Gates is invested in CureVac, a company that has its machines manufactured by Tesla Credit: Getty Images - GettySpeaking to the host Kara Swisher, Musk slammed Gates - who has voiced support for a coronavirus vaccine - as "a stupid person."
Musk added: "Gates said something about me not knowing what I was doing.
“It’s like, ‘Hey, knucklehead, we actually make the vaccine machines for CureVac.'"
CureVac, a company Gates has invested in, has machines manufactured by Tesla.
Musk also defended his decision not to vaccinate himself or his children, according to RT.
"I'm not at risk for COVID, nor are my kids," said Musk, when asked if he would get the vaccine.
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Musk has downplayed Covid-19 on many occasions Credit: Reuters
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Musk has praised Tesla for continuing to make cars during the COVID lockdown Credit: AP:Associated PressMusk has downplayed Covid-19 on many occasions, including during his interview with Swisher.
"In the grand scheme of things, we have something with a very low mortality rate and high contagion," he said.
"Essentially, the right thing to do would be to not have done a lockdown for the whole country, but to have anyone who is at risk quarantine until the storm passes."
Musk praised Tesla for continuing to make cars during the Covid-19 lockdown after he filed a lawsuit over his factory's closure and opened up the plant.
He added: “Through this entire thing, we didn’t skip a day. We had national security clearance because we were doing national security work.
"We sent astronauts to the space station and back.”
When Swisher questioned Musk about the safety of his Tesla employees and asked what if somebody were to die, the Tesla CEO said: "Everybody dies."
He also denounced the nation's response to the pandemic, saying: "It has diminished my faith in humanity, the whole thing.
"The irrationality of people in general."
His comments don't come as a surprise as earlier this year, the Tesla boss advocated a coronavirus conspiracy theory that the official death toll was being artificially exaggerated.
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In April, Musk joined cries to reopen the US in a series of tweets to his 33 million followers, proclaiming "Free America Now!"
The Tesla tycoon tweeted an op-ed that questioned whether the lockdown saved many lives, adding "Give people their freedom back!"