Rick Scott

It was also inevitable that two of the US far-right's favorite characters for conspiracy theories: Bill Gates and China, found a way into the hearing, thanks to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee chair, Sen. Rand Paul. Dr Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment and refused to answer the question - a stance he repeated 111 times throughout the hearing. He did the same with questions surrounding China and Bill Gates' role in the COVID-19 research, but it sparked a lot of buzz on social media.

Also read: Why is Anthony Fauci testifying before Congress? All you need to know about Rand Paul hearing

Sen. Scott, meanwhile, threw off a series of 23 questions at Dr. Anthony Fauci, many of which were related to Bill Gates' role in "sensitive" COVID-19 research.

"To your knowledge, did [Bill Gates] partner with China on sensitive research?" Scott asked Fauci. "Specifically, did Bill use research such as countermeasures or gain of function?"

Dr. Anthony Fauci used the Fifth to dodge all the questions. But they sparked a lot of buzz on social media.

Also read: Fauci invokes the Fifth Amendment, declines to testify in GOP-led Senate panel's COVID-19 hearing

Bill Gates Sparks Buzz Amid Dr. Anthony Fauci's Hearing

Even though Dr. Anthony Fauci refused to answer the questions around Bill Gates and China, they erupted on social media. Videos from the live broadcast were clipped and shared and they instantly went viral. Amid Dr. Fauci's silence, they snowballed on social media into more theories and speculations.

“Bill Gates has a security clearance? He was just drawn into the Fauci investigation narrative. It’s all going to be exposed,” wrote one.

“Sounds like the next subpoena will be for Bill Gates,” wrote another, sharing a video of Senator Rick Scott's questions.

“Why would Bill Gates need nuclear clearance? Q clearance is a U.S. Department of Energy security clearance required to access Top Secret Restricted Data, including nuclear weapons information,” added one.