Bill Gates says Trump's decision to ax WHO funding during a pandemic is just 'as dangerous as it sounds'

President Trump announced Tuesday evening that he will direct the government to stop funding the World Health Organization and "assess the WHO's role in severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus." Bill Gates, who has steered much of his Microsoft fortune to public health initiatives, said halting funding for the WHO "during a world health crisis is as dangerous as it sounds," because "their work is slowing the spread of COVID-19 and if that work is stopped no other organization can replace them."

His wasn't the lone voice of criticism. Patrice Harris, president of the American Medical Association, said cutting off the WHO during "the worst public health crisis in a century" is a "dangerous step in the wrong direction," adding, "Fighting a global pandemic requires international cooperation and reliance on science and data." Nahid Bhadelia, a Boston University infectious disease expert, called the WHO "our eyes on the global scope of this pandemic" and said stripping it of 15 percent of its budget now "is an absolute disaster."

Democrats and even some conservatives joined in the condemnation of what The New York Times called "the latest example of the president's attempt to shift the blame for the handling of the crisis." Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) said the WHO could have "declared a global health emergency sooner," but "withholding funds for WHO in the midst of the worst pandemic in a century makes as much sense as cutting off ammunition to an ally as the enemy closes in. The White House knows that it grossly mishandled this crisis from the beginning." Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Ct.) said Trump had little room to talk.

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Not everyone thought it was a bad idea, though. Trump's trade adviser Peter Navarro told Fox News that WHO officials have "blood on their hands" for having "fail[ed] us in a pandemic."