Robert Malone on cdc: what the evidence says · JRE #2454
SUBJECT: CDC
The short answer
Malone claims Coca-Cola's funding ties to the CDC Foundation explain why Coca-Cola allegedly pressured an advertising group to push Spotify to suppress the Rogan-Malone COVID conversation. The funding-ties portion is documented: a 2019 Milbank Quarterly study found Coca-Cola donated more than $1 million to the CDC Foundation between 2010 and 2015, with additional undisclosed gifts in 2016-2017, and raised conflict-of-interest concerns about the foundation's role as an intermediary for corporate money flowing to CDC-linked programs; the CDC Foundation's donor base separately includes the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and major pharmaceutical and vaccine manufacturers.
Not a true/false call. Every claim is logged with its sources; read the exhibits below.
Coca-cola is really tight with the CDC. Coca-cola has funded buildings at the CDC. Coca-cola funds the CDC Foundation, foundation for the CDC, as does Bill and Melinda Gates, has done all the major vaccine manufacturers, et cetera, et cetera.
What the evidence says 01 / RECORD
Malone's claim has two distinct parts. The funding-ties portion is documented: a 2019 Milbank Quarterly study found Coca-Cola donated more than $1 million to the CDC Foundation between 2010 and 2015, with additional undisclosed gifts in 2016-2017, and raised conflict-of-interest concerns about the foundation's role as an intermediary for corporate money flowing to CDC-linked programs; the CDC Foundation's donor base separately includes the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and major pharmaceutical and vaccine manufacturers. The causal portion is unsupported by current public evidence: a 2024 House Judiciary Committee report on the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) found that GARM pressured Spotify over Joe Rogan's podcast specifically because of his on-air claims that young, healthy people did not need COVID-19 vaccines, and separately identified Coca-Cola as one of GARM's major member advertisers, without connecting Coca-Cola to that Spotify pressure campaign. Neither the report nor other public records establish that Coca-Cola's CDC Foundation funding motivated GARM's pressure on Spotify, nor do they document any coordinated Coca-Cola or CDC campaign targeting the Malone episode specifically. The documented funding relationship is real; the inference that it drove suppression of this particular episode remains speculative.