In the video below, which quickly went viral, [1] this rather overwrought woman harangues employees at a grocery store for wearing face masks. The situation begins with the woman walking around nervously, and suggesting emphatically that “it’s against the law” to force her to wear a mask at the store.
Right after that, she launches into a conspiracy theory diatribe, saying that while the virus might be real, it’s also part of an evil plan promulgated by Bill Gates, according to Raw Story. [2]
“This is just made up by Bill Gates and them, and by you wearing that!” she claims. “You’re breathing out your toxic air, you’re breathing in the same air… you’re killing your antibodies!”
“Stop being lied to. They want to kill all the black people, they want to kill everybody,” she says, waving her arms up and down for emphasis.
One curious store employee asks her at one point if she believes COVID-19 is real.
“I believe there’s a virus but it’s not what they say,” she responded. “They have 98, 99 percent cure! So what kind of virus is that? We’ve all had viruses. We all get colds, you’re being lied to.”
You’ve got to envy Bill Gates, who’s inadvertently spawned a number of coronavirus-related conspiracy theories, just by simply existing. Some conspiracy theorists, using doctored images and fabricated stories have accused the billionaire philanthropist of creating the outbreak, despite the fact that he’s pledged $250 million for efforts to combat the pandemic, France24 [3] reports.
Some conspiracy theorists are even claiming, without credible evidence, that Gates wants to “eliminate 15 percent of the population” via vaccinations and electronic microchips.
And these people wonder why the less gullible among us don’t take them seriously.