Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, in the discussion “Innovation potential in Africa, in Berlin, Germany.
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Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates told CNBC that social media companies should eventually remove the snouts of former President Donald Trump, despite his “corrosive” election fraud conspiracy theories.
“I think at some point he will probably be allowed to come back and probably should be allowed to come back,” said the Microsoft co-founder in an interview that aired Thursday morning.
CNBC’s “Squawk Box” co-host Andrew Ross Sorkin asked Gates if he would let Trump return to social media if he were on Facebook’s supervisory board.
This social media giant and others, including Twitter, suspended Trump from his platforms after he spread a series of baseless conspiracy theories and falsehoods about his electoral defeat for President Joe Biden.
Democrats and some Republicans blamed Trump for fomenting the January 6 rebellion on the United States Capitol, in which five people died. The Senate on Saturday lost 10 votes to convict Trump in his impeachment trial.
“It’s weird when you’re, you know, saying that the election was stolen without any facts. And how corrosive it is,” said Gates, who also criticized the way the Trump administration handled the coronavirus pandemic.
“But I bet they’ll find a way to let him come back,” he added, saying that Trump’s future fake postings may receive warning labels.
“You know, in a way … people’s interest in what he says may diminish a little,” added Gates. “This is going to be interesting to watch.”
With social media unavailable to him, Trump has issued fewer statements since he left the White House on January 20.
After Rush Limbaugh’s death on Wednesday, Trump called Fox News for his first post-presidential telephone interview, during which he repeated many of the false electoral claims that led social media companies to ban him.