Billionaire Melinda Gates Reveals Her Pick for President: “I Absolutely Am Not Voting For...”

Melinda Gates, the billionaire philanthropist and co-founder of Microsoft, disclosed which presidential candidate she would support in the 2024 elections. In an interview with Gayle King of CBS Mornings, she talked about how women's votes influenced the outcome of the 2022 midterm elections.

"Women turned out in the mid-term elections and said, 'This is enough.' And we've gotta do it again," she told CBS News. When asked if she would support or endorse a certain candidate, she replied, "More than likely, yes." "I absolutely am not voting for Donald Trump, and I will vote for Joe Biden," Gates revealed. 

She opined, “Well, I don’t think it would be any surprise. I think, first of all...it’s really important to say that I have voted in some elections Republican and some elections Democratic...But in this election, I cannot vote for a man who rolls back women’s reproductive rights and says the heinous things that he says about women."

She emphasized, "It is up to women to get out to vote in November...It will come down to the women turning out in the battleground states."

As per The Hill, Gates is a fervent supporter of women's rights, pledging $1 billion to women's organizations last month. Although the Supreme Court's ruling last week maintaining access to the abortion drug mifepristone was welcomed, she pointed out that the larger struggle for reproductive rights is still ongoing. “Today’s Supreme Court decision is welcome news, but the fight for reproductive rights is far from over,” she wrote on X. She warned, “Someone else will file a lawsuit. Another state will pass legislation restricting women’s options.”  

Sharing her commitment to the cause, she announced on Instagram, "After a difficult few years of watching women’s rights rolled back in the U.S. and globally, I feel a sense of urgency about doing more to alter this trajectory.

As a first step, I’m committing an additional $1 billion over the next two years to people and organizations working to support the health, wellbeing, and power of women and girls everywhere." 

"Over the past few weeks, I’ve begun directing substantial new grants to organizations doing urgent work to advance women’s power in the U.S. For too long, resource scarcity has forced these organizations into a defensive posture, while the enemies of progress, play offense. I want to help even the match. I’m also trying new ways to help broaden the circle of decision-makers in philanthropy and get resources where they’re most urgently needed. As part of that, I’ve offered 12 leaders I respect, a $20 million fund each, to distribute to charitable organizations working to improve women’s health and well-being anywhere in the world. And later this year, I’ll launch a $250 million global call to identify and fund community-led organizations focused on women’s mental and physical health. For decades, I’ve watched women and girls fight to get on the global agenda. It’s time women and girls set that agenda themselves," Gates wrote.