A philanthropist and entrepreneur who has been accused of spreading misinformation on COVID-19 was thoroughly mocked on social media Friday after a smug post about an incident he supposedly had on an airplane.
Steve Kirsch, the founder of an anti-vaccine group called Vaccine Safety Research Foundation and a former HuffPost contributor, took to Twitter to relay an experience he said he had with a fellow passenger who, unlike him, was wearing a mask.
“I am on board a Delta flight right now. The person sitting next to me in first class refused $100,000 to remove her mask for the entire flight,” he wrote alongside a selfie from the plane. “She works for a pharma company.”
In a thread, Kirsch detailed how he had offered the woman the money and why he did so — not seeming to realize he came across as the seatmate from hell, full of self-righteousness but little self-awareness.
The tweet seemed to be a sequel to one he posted Tuesday, when he said he offered $10,000 to others on a plane if they would take off their masks for the duration of the flight.
He said they declined, and he wondered if increasing the amount would “quantify the amount of brainwashing.”
Kirsch did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
While Kirsch may have viewed himself as a truth-seeker only trying to help people find their way in a weary world, other Twitter users had different ideas.
Some suggested that maybe, just maybe, he should have left his fellow Delta passenger alone.
Others felt there was a good reason for the woman to say no to Kirsch’s offer.
Some felt Kirsch was making assumptions about people without knowing the full story.
Others saw a potential business opportunity.
But one man found a solution that would have pleased everyone.
