Russia Spreads Conspiracy Theory Linking Coronavirus Pandemic to Bill Gates (wired.com) 184
Wired investigated the vast spread of 5G/coronavirus conspiracy theories -- and reports that "Amongst the conspiracy sludge, one voice stands out."
"For more than a year, propaganda broadcaster RT has been attacking the roll-out of 5G." While RT has never outright linked 5G to coronavirus, it has played a role in adding legitimacy to conspiracy theories surrounding the technology. As The New York Times reports, RT's disinformation campaign against 5G — seemingly created to hinder the global roll-out of the technology so Russia can catch up — has since spread to a network of blogs and social media accounts, where it has been decoupled from Moscow's propaganda firehose.
And it doesn't stop at 5G. On January 29, RT's Greenstein opened an afternoon news show with a five-minute monologue asking viewers to question the role of Bill Gates in the coronavirus pandemic. "Maybe this is something to consider when you're reading headlines about how the Gates Foundation is pledging money to fight the coronavirus," she says... While Greenstein stops short of accusing Gates of somehow planning the coronavirus outbreak, RT's winks and nods have added fuel to another conspiracy theory that has also gone viral...
None of these conspiracy theories have a shred of truth in them, while some are outright dangerous.
The theory was spread further by a former U.K. sportsballer who livestreamed a two and a half hour interview Monday linking 5G and the coronavirus pandemic.
The BBC reports that YouTube has since deleted the video -- watched by 65,000 viewers -- in which a former football player turned conspiracy theorist "claimed that a coronavirus vaccine, when one is developed, would include 'nanotechnology microchips' that would allow humans to be controlled. He added that Bill Gates — who is helping fund Covid-19 vaccine research — should be jailed."
Ironically, efforts to launch 5G networks are well underway in Russia itself, VentureBeat noted last spring, "and the New York Times reports that Russians have embraced even more extreme views on the high-frequency wireless signals: It's believed that they can be used to heal wounds, fight hair loss, rejuvenate skin, and treat cancer."
"For more than a year, propaganda broadcaster RT has been attacking the roll-out of 5G." While RT has never outright linked 5G to coronavirus, it has played a role in adding legitimacy to conspiracy theories surrounding the technology. As The New York Times reports, RT's disinformation campaign against 5G — seemingly created to hinder the global roll-out of the technology so Russia can catch up — has since spread to a network of blogs and social media accounts, where it has been decoupled from Moscow's propaganda firehose.
And it doesn't stop at 5G. On January 29, RT's Greenstein opened an afternoon news show with a five-minute monologue asking viewers to question the role of Bill Gates in the coronavirus pandemic. "Maybe this is something to consider when you're reading headlines about how the Gates Foundation is pledging money to fight the coronavirus," she says... While Greenstein stops short of accusing Gates of somehow planning the coronavirus outbreak, RT's winks and nods have added fuel to another conspiracy theory that has also gone viral...
None of these conspiracy theories have a shred of truth in them, while some are outright dangerous.
The theory was spread further by a former U.K. sportsballer who livestreamed a two and a half hour interview Monday linking 5G and the coronavirus pandemic.
The BBC reports that YouTube has since deleted the video -- watched by 65,000 viewers -- in which a former football player turned conspiracy theorist "claimed that a coronavirus vaccine, when one is developed, would include 'nanotechnology microchips' that would allow humans to be controlled. He added that Bill Gates — who is helping fund Covid-19 vaccine research — should be jailed."
Ironically, efforts to launch 5G networks are well underway in Russia itself, VentureBeat noted last spring, "and the New York Times reports that Russians have embraced even more extreme views on the high-frequency wireless signals: It's believed that they can be used to heal wounds, fight hair loss, rejuvenate skin, and treat cancer."
/. defending Bill Gates... (Score:5, Funny)
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...hold on a second, I think I just noticed a sow & a boar flying by my window.
I knew there was a reason one Norwegian grocery store chain has started selling pork wings [meny.no]!
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Pepperidge Farm remembers.
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Nahh, it pretty much is. There are ebbs and flows in the propaganda, whether it be corporate or government, it is part of the fun. It only gets boring when they are really crap at it and demonstrate no flair or style, just the typical crap they feed into corporate main stream media, it is pretty insulting.
The majority of slashdot and convinced by nothing on slashdot, they just like the idea and go on to have their fun with it or are annoyed by it and take the piss out of it. When the corporate of governmen
Re:/. defending Bill Gates... (Score:5, Insightful)
There are some people who support or hate people because of who they are; and there are some who support or hate based on what they do. You can decide based on your/their identity, or based on current facts.
When Bill Gates was using MS, Windows, IE, Office, etc as a sledge to smash all competitors, I was, well, not a supporter. But "MS hater" was never my identity, is was just my decision based on the facts of the day.
Now, while I'm still no Gates fan, I realize that these COVID/5G claims are utter bullshit. "Conspiracy hater" is also not my identity, but the facts of the day are that idiots are believing these conspiracies (and usually tying them to their own identities of "anti-tech", "anti-government", "pro-$COUNTRY", "follower of $RELIGION", or any of the other crazy identities people carry around like badges of honor).
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So, your theory is that the NYT is making up the 5G/Gates/covid stuff, just to make Gates popular? That's like a Bond villain's plot in a discount Bond film.
This is exactly what I was talking about though. I'll not criticize Gates because some idiots claim he's causing covid; instead I'll criticize him for all of the terrible things he has actually done, and praise him for the good stuff he has done, and have no opinion for stupid fake conspiracy theories. You, on the other hand, seem to see this in term
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RT is NOT against 5G. RT AMERICA is against 5G. You will not find a single anti-5G material on RT elsewhere. Try that for laughs. Go and search.
Why - that is fairly easy to guess too. Putin would love a 5G network because it has lots and lots of interesting properties if you have the right antenna and you are listening from a neighbouring country: https://www.fagain.co.uk/node/... [fagain.co.uk]
What h
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chips (Score:4, Informative)
I thought that a) Gates was developing a vaccine (its one of the things his foundation does - with mixed results by all accounts)
b) that he wanted a tech version of a "vaccination certificate" that people could have implanted to store other health related info (this is not a new idea by any means, and people already have rfid chips implanted in them for uses such as credit card payment)
However I don't go in for the "and it will control your mind" stuff (though you never know, we've already had serious politicians call for a global government to fight the pandemic)
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Covid-19 is a good start. Then we can tackle the pandemics of poverty, ignorance, and racism.
The troll farms/broadcasters are going to hate that -- it's 3 thirds of their demographics.
Comment removed (Score:5, Interesting)
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One can dream
Re:chips (Score:4, Informative)
Trump's Republican masters (he and Microsoft were effectively pardoned by Ashcroft under Bush) don't want people to transcend ignorance. They love low-information voters.
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Trump's Republican masters ... don't want people to transcend ignorance. They love low-information voters.
Trump even proclaimed (@10s) [youtube.com] in Nevada: "I love the poorly educated."
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Trump's Republican masters (he and Microsoft were effectively pardoned by Ashcroft under Bush) don't want people to transcend ignorance. They love low-information voters.
Sure, if they can woo them away from progressive Democrats. Once their eyes are opened thing may never be the same.
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Whoops! I meant Gates' masters. I've been arguing so much about Covid that I miswrote that.
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Re:chips (Score:5, Funny)
The delay on the vaccine is because it doesn't cause autism yet.
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What is the subject supposed to be about? Not interested enough to explore the context, but just wanted to note that your humor is sometimes offensive, but in this case I'd give you an extra Funny if I ever had a mod point. However that's on the theory that you're baiting an anti-vaxxer.
On a serious note, I wouldn't be surprised if North Korea suddenly announces they've completed testing on an effective vaccine. However there will be a small problem with the supporting data that they will share. Somehow the
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"Your chip says you carry 17 known infectious diseases, and for 4 of them there are no tests that can disprove..."
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Why is it a truly stupid idea to recycle strong metal frames?
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British... hmmm, oh yes Britain, that quaint little place where some wanker sold the lot of you on anti-vaxxer conspiracies.... seems like a bunch of idiots, but we have the whole south east of the US to make us look that way.
Well, at least you won't be making the EU look stupid any more, we seem more determined not to let our less intelligent regions secede
It is really not the people pushing this (Score:2)
The far larger and dangerous group of defectives is the ones believing complete nonsense like that.
In soviet russia we link you! (Score:2)
In soviet russia we link you!
Has to be said (Score:5, Funny)
Re: Has to be said (Score:3)
Alas, when the doctors, according to the tried and tested procedure, exited the room and entered it again, the patient still had the virus...
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Try the pangolin/bat soup.
Why the panic? (Score:4, Informative)
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Bill Gates wanting to save the world? Give me a break.
Yeah! What possible interest could someone have in preventing their customer base from dying? I mean, that business strategy worked so well for Umbrella Corp!
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You didn't need much convincing? So you believe the conspiracy, and got modded informative? Shame on Slashdot.
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Bill Gates wanting to save the world?
1. It is called the robber baron syndrome.
2. You are seriously underestimating Melinda's influence.
3. He has been sponsoring trying to make the world a better place (f.e. the fight against malaria) for more than a decade now. While some other researches, international organizations and philanthropists disagree with his methods, nobody questions his intent. It does seem true.
Re:Why the panic? (Score:5, Insightful)
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BG has been very active in philanthropy ever since his wife decided she wanted some prestige to get the stink off his ill-gotten gains.
-jcr
Ha! No. Bill Gates has been very active in siphoning wealth from poor people in developed countries and giving it to poor people in undeveloped countries - the ones who will have kids who never have a shot at challenging his for financial power down the road.
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Shut up, Putin (Score:2)
And get in line for your Covid vaccine with the ID2020 chip.
I don't read RT (Score:3)
But if New York Times and Slashdot brings it up... who is really spreading it?
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Spreading what? Information about the conspiracy is not spreading the conspiracy itself, unless you believe ignorance is the best defense.
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I read it only after I have read the Russian independent press (in Russian), the news in either El Pais (Spanish) or one of the Eastern European newspapers (I can read most of the languages) and the Guardian and/or Independent.
I do it so I can see what exactly is Putin's propaganda trying to drive and map it onto the news landscape from other sources.
There are some very rare occasions when they actually have some news we suppress, but 99% of what they
Obvious bunk.... but you say... (Score:2)
You say it prevents hair loss? (rubs the bald spot on his head...)
Maybe we should hear them out.. not
I can't call all this mental illness, but maybe a steep decline in teaching our kids how to think for themselves? All people should be taught to be a little skeptical of practically every piece of new/unusual/odd info until they've had a few minutes to think about it and then maybe do a little research.
There was a time when teachers/professors would challenge students who had knee-jerk reactions to a 'factoi
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It's not mental illness, it's cognitive failure caused by disuse.
It's curable, but ye olde TPTB don't want a cure, because only idiots will put up with their shenanigans.
Impossible (Score:2)
Sorry, but there is no way Bill Gates could have made this virus. When was the last time anything Bill Gates made that could spread virally? It has to be forced onto people. If the virus was spread by a bunch of MBA's holding you down and injecting you with it then yes.
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"When was the last time anything Bill Gates made that could spread virally?"
Bill Gates didn't MAKE Windows 10, but he was still working with Microsoft when it infected thousands of computers through the dropper known as Windows 7.
So Russia/China/US all spread conspiracy theories (Score:2)
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5G's amazing, magical powers! (Score:2)
"and the New York Times reports that Russians have embraced even more extreme views on the high-frequency wireless signals: It's believed that they can be used to heal wounds, fight hair loss, rejuvenate skin, and treat cancer."
Really? I'd heard it makes food taste better and colors look brighter! I totally believe it, it HAS to be true because the internets said it!
We should start our own conspiracy theory (Score:2)
Feel free to embellish upon this as you spread it, that's how these things work isn't it?
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I'm really beginning to think that our species really is too stupid and self-destructive to survive. Seems like every decade that passes, we more and more go one step forward and two steps back. At the rate things are going it'll be one step forward and three steps back. 80's disaster movies will end up being prophetic. In 100 years we'll be back to hunter-gatherer cultures and scratching things on cave walls.
Solution (Score:5, Funny)
And there you have it, ladies and germs. The solution to fighting bullshit is not facts and reasoned argument. When you're up against nation-state-scale bullshit, the only successful strategy... is to bury them in bullshit.
"...the New York Times reports that Russians have embraced even more extreme views on the high-frequency wireless signals: It's believed that they can be used to heal wounds, fight hair loss, rejuvenate skin, and treat cancer."
"In addition, the New York Times reported that Russian scientists have discovered that carrying a 5G-enabled phone in your pocket will make you more sexually attractive[1], prevent colon cancer, make your penis longer, and turn you into a sexual tyrannosaurus. These effects also work on women." True facts Jeff Bezos doesn't want you to know!
Seriously, stop trying to teach the fuckwits about reality. It wastes your time and annoys the fuckwit.
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[1] As long as the case is white and features some sort of fruit logo.
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and turn you into a sexual tyrannosaurus
LOL sold!
All The Additional Connectivity (Score:2)
The crackpot theories regarding 5G are in part designed to disparage the real threat thatv5G represents.
5G technology will greatly increase the speed and density of surveillance and telemetry that is possible. It will make it far more wasy for tracking technologies to be amped up against us.
If there were not crackpots out there to ridicule, they would be invented by the powers pushing surveillance systems.
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It really won't. The most efficient way to provide more bandwidth for surveillance is to use a mesh network, since the more nodes you have, the more bandwidth is available.
Covid-19 in Russia? (Score:2)
Odd. Not much news about the amount of Covid-19 in Russia.
It can't be much lower than anywhere else, otherwise we would have heard about it (as we've heard about the great work they've done in South Korea).
Looking in the news, looks like things are going bad in Russia. Any accurate statistics there, with comparison to Western Europe?
So where is the propaganda? (Score:2)
What you've got is stupid theories linking 5G to COVID-19. What Wired found is that these stories also pass through RT. That doesn't mean much except that now the stupid theories can be blamed on Russia. And that's the takeaway value of it. Slashdot and others can now blame Russia. In terms of stupidity that can compete with the 5G-COVID linkage.
Nanobots in vaccines? (Score:2)
You mean the virus called Windows OS. (Score:2)
The govt measures are not working (Score:3)
Forget conspiracy theories, we have a bigger problem. The nationwide stay-at-home order was issued two weeks ago yet the number of infections keeps rising exponentially, doubling every 4 days [meduza.io]. Last Friday a whopping 30% of Moscow population left home for the whole day [meduza.io], on their normal business presumably.
I was one of these last Friday, had to attend an installation of equipment in my lab [vad1.com] at the request of my employer, the university. I was in close contact with about 15 workers for the whole day, most of whom arrived by public transport.
This is shit. The measures in Russia are grossly insufficient, not an effective quarantine.
Time to start our own conspiracy theory (Score:2)
The one where Russia is trying to dumb down the west by flooding it with ridiculous conspiracy theories, knowing that there are going to be some idiot sheeps who will fall for it. Let's just call everyone a Russian sheep who believes the conspiracy bull and see how it pans out.
Fighting fire with fire....
Re:Dear Russia (Score:5, Funny)
Canada will likely be the last one
Yeah. But not for the reasons stated. 5G cell sites are smaller and closer together than 4G, 3G, etc. So it makes sense when you are trying to cover major metropolitan areas. But not so much for places like Shivering Moose, Alberta (pop. 25).
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The people in Shivering Moose, Alberta deserve progress just as much as people in Ontario.
They do. But they need something that works. A population of 25 will justify one cell site. And that means they will all have to move out of their cabins spread out in the woods and into one commie-block high rise apartment building to be within range of that one site.
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True craziness is thinking that there is one "upper class" which agrees about anything. There are lots of wealthy people and groups who agree on almost nothing (except a few things like "lower/no taxes on us", "less powerful non-purchased governments"), and even those are primarily aimed at helping themselves.
But no worries; another thing many of those folks agree on is making idiots attack straw men, not themselves. So they prefer vague non-specific rage against "the upper class", with the corresponding
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You should go live in sane and rational Best Korea.
Rational behavior by a leader does not imply good living conditions for the citizens.
Maybe you will be one of the lucky ones Lil Kim uses as target practice on an artillery range
Kim Jong Un murdered his uncle with point-blank artillery. His uncle had created an independent power center and he was widely seen as "China's guy" in NK. In one shot Kim sent a clear message that he would tolerate no rivals, he would not be a toady to China, and he was willing to be ruthless in asserting his will.
This was all completely rational.
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can we please fix these brain damaged conspiracy theorists?
They probably just need to get laid -- w/o having to pay for it.
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There is a place in the world for stupid people. There are jobs that need to be done that stupid people can do, and that intelligent people can't do without suffering depression (from feeling like a failure, etc., for doing work that is beneath them).
So we need them, and we need them to be stupid. And we need more of them than we need of highly intelligent people, given how readily and efficiently we can share knowledge and empower intelligent people to collaborate over any distance.
Even if, culturally, w
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"There are jobs that need to be done that stupid people can do"...errrmmm....Fox News Talking Heads?
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Not as long as eugenics is a bad word.
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Such technology does not exist. Rest easy.
We DO have some invasive technologies that can interact with the brain, like the BrainGate device that allowed a blind man to see again (the effect wore off due to scar tissue formation). More info about this here [wikipedia.org].
But despite all this research, we are still *nowhere near* what you are describing. It might not ever be possible to use "little bots" as you say, which can operate remotely from inside the brain. But it is is most definitely not possible now, nor anyw
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Really? My impression is the U.S. cannot be bothered paying any attention to Russia, except for Putin's Poodle of course.
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And that is exactly what Trump is trying to achieve in the US. Lie so frequently about the simplest things, and people stop believing anything they hear/see, and then you can get away with anything because no one will believe the reporting on it.
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The problem is the vast majority of people in Russia are so used to being lied to they ignore pretty much everything
It goes both ways.
Even in cases where it is known that our governments have lied to us, if it is the Russians who stated that they lied, we will believe what our governments say even if we are shown some definitive proof later.
Exhibit A: Theresa May stating that UK did not know about Novichok before the Salisbury incident. Stated as lie by the Russians. Proven as lie by the German public broadcaster Deutche Welle as a result of extensive investigation: https://uk.reuters.com/article... [reuters.com]
However, because
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Has anybody claimed that the countries of east Asia aren't scientifically literate? That's not a stereotype I'm familiar with. But really, the biggest reason for their success is recent experience with similar diseases.
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Have you never heard of the racial stereotype that people from Asia are amazing at the sciences and math?
It's pretty popular in the US as far as depiction in popular media goes. And it dates back some Time
All while in the West (particularly) you have tons of religious craziness. The idea of Intelligent Design and the pseudoscience backing it up comes from there as well. Andrew Wakefield, one of the most prominent figure, in the anti-vaxx mov
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fyi, most talk about race that I hear, comes from racists, maybe it is because I am white and they think that I believe like they do
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The only way to fight pseudoscience (there is no such thing ultimately, there is science or not-science) is to jail people for speech.
I'm puzzled that you say there is no such thing (ultimately) as pseudoscience. "pseudo" is an adjective meaning counterfeit or fake. So "pseudoscience" is counterfeit or fake science. I agree that it is "not science," but its a special kind of "not science."
For example, "magic" is "not science," but it doesn't claim to be science, either, so it is not fake or counterfeit science. In other words, there are lots of things that are "not science," but there are far fewer things that purport to be science b
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... (which, of course, is a response to the quack theory that COVID19 is a Chinese disease from eating animals other people find disgusting).
It's not quack at all, but only misunderstood. The reason why we find certain animals disgusting has to do with our fear of the consequences these animals can bring us. It's not that we find their taste disgusting, but that we don't want to have these animals around us. One can certainly find a rat, a pigeon or a bat to be cute or tasty. The reason why we find them disgusting is because that in some cultures we've learned to see them as a threat. We may not have known what a virus was, or that a large rat
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Here is a very interesting article about a Wuhan based researcher who studies bat viruses, including coronavirus and SARS
How China’s “Bat Woman” Hunted Down Viruses from SARS to the New Coronavirus. Wuhan-based virologist Shi Zhengli has identified dozens of deadly SARS-like viruses in bat caves, and she warns there are more out there [scientificamerican.com]
Doesn't seem like eating is the most direct route for bat virus to get into the population in Wuhan
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The alleged administration's culture accelerated the coronavirus in the U.S. and helped make it a net exporter of the virus. The alleged administration's tendency to hide the true and outright lie isn't helping. MAGA!!
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