This is a complex topic. My observations:
1. The OP does not actually care about golden rice. If he cared about destitute people in the Third World, he would not support Trump and the cessation of all foreign aid. Thousands of people have already died -- maybe more! -- from the discontinuation of USAID.
2. But as to the point: the problem with golden rice was that it got too much hype too early. The initial golden rice basically didn't work for two reasons: not enough Vitamin A, and no provision for the big problem with hunger in the developing world: a lack of quality and reliable lipids. If you're only eating a bowl of rice, then it can have tons of Vitamin A but it will mean very little because it's not absorbed.
My understanding is that these problems have been recently resolved. But in the meantime, the world has experienced plenty of other GMOs and an entire discourse emerged about it. Some of the arguments are paranoid; some are not.
3. The opposition to golden rice isn't primarily from left-wing activists. It's primarily from the countries and the people it's intended to help.
One can't understand the issue without thinking about the most common experience of GMOs in the developing world: Roundup. And Roundup has been a two-edged sword in the developing world, and from what I understand, the bad side predominates. Roundup ready crops have higher yields, it is true. But it also makes subsistence farmers or small-market farmers slaves to Monsanto. So the benefits of those higher yields typically go mostly to American biotech companies, and in many cases the farmers ended up worse off than they started, because they weren't getting more money and now Monsanto and its representatives had newfound economic power. Remember that the one thing about subsistence farming in the Third World is that it's sort of a safety valve of sorts. If the cities go to hell or the government is persecuting people, they can retreat into the countryside and farm. If the only seeds available to them at a reasonable price are made by Monsanto, the subsistence farmers lose that only outlet.
This isn't a problem everywhere, but in parts of India -- the parts nobody really hears about too often -- it's a major problem, especially for Muslims. From what I understand, it's also an issue in Bangladesh and Burma, though I don't know as much about those cases. It's also almost surely a problem in Africa, but I can't really speak to that.
4. Golden rice doesn't have that same problem. The IP is available for free; the GMO modifications are minimal and come from plants (as opposed to more controversial GMOs that, say, use pig DNA for some purpose, which are considered to run afoul of kosher and halal laws, which seems silly to me but my opinion doesn't matter). But people who need golden rice are not sophisticated consumers -- do they even know what DNA is? Do they understand how GM works? The distinction is lost on them. What they know is that they've been screwed by GMOs in the past, and are being told they might be screwed in the future.
People in the US instinctively trust US companies, for the most part. People in the developing world do not, mostly because those US companies have screwed them over repeatedly. The Union Carbide leak in Bhopal killed tens of thousands and Union Carbide gave as few fucks as it could get away with. We all know about the history of US agriculture in Central and South America. Africans obviously don't trust Europeans or Americans for plenty of very, very good reasons.
This is why the cuts to USAID were so problematic. The people on the ground in Africa have, through great effort, earned the trust of the locals. But then the US government comes along and screws it all up. Decisions being made on high, without any care for their effects on the ground -- these sorts of things create a sense of betrayal and undermine most of the good will that has been built up.
5. You can't expect people in the developing world, whose countries have been ravaged by rapacious white people for centuries, to trust that golden rice is good for them. It can seem like a trap, like Roundup, or any of the other million things that Europeans and Americans have done to them. But again, the OP doesn't actually care about this issue. He just hates left-wing activists, primarily because they are smarter than him and like most MAGAs he reacts with bitterness, resentment and hatred instead of trying to improve his life or be his best self.
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