Melinda French Gates comes at Elysee Palace for the Technology Equality Forum hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron on July 01, 2021 in Paris, France.
Aurelien Meunier | Getty Photographs Information | Getty Visuals
Melinda French Gates, a philanthropist and the former wife of Microsoft co-founder Invoice Gates, announced Thursday that she will vote for President Joe Biden in the 2024 presidential election, producing in an op-ed that “the stakes for girls and households couldn’t be greater.”
“I have hardly ever endorsed a presidential applicant in advance of. My function on gender equality and global well being normally calls for me to operate with leaders on both equally sides of the aisle, so I’ve averted conversing publicly about who I voted for in past elections,” French Gates wrote in the op-ed printed by CNN.
“But this yr is distinct,” she wrote. “Right after [former President Donald] Trump’s first term in workplace endangered the overall health of girls, compromising their security and robbing them of crucial freedoms, I’m supporting Biden this election and inquiring other folks to do the exact same.”
In her explanation of her endorsement, French Gates targeted on the two candidates’ monitor data when it will come to women’s challenges — the matter of a great deal of French Gates’ philanthropic get the job done.
“Whilst Trump has boasted about rolling again the legal rights of ladies, Biden understands that the long term of our place relies upon on them. That is why Biden has attained my vote. I urge any person who cares about women and families to join me.”
A Trump marketing campaign spokesman did not immediately reply to a request for remark from CNBC.
French Gates declared in May perhaps that she would be resigning as co-chair of the Invoice & Melinda Gates Basis, practically 3 many years soon after she and her ex-husband introduced their separation. Her last working day with the foundation was June 7.
For each the terms of the Gateses’ divorce arrangement, French Gates departed the basis with a $12.5 billion grant. Her web value is approximated at additional than $13 billion, according to Bloomberg.
French Gates did not say in her endorsement on Thursday whether or not she strategies to donate to Biden’s marketing campaign.
