The Paper reporter Shao Wen
"I did make a mistake, and I have to take responsibility." On May 3, local time, Microsoft founder Bill Gates one year after divorcing his wife of 27 years Responding to accusations of marital infidelity.
While speaking with "Today" host Savannah Guthrie, Gates was asked, "Were you unfaithful in your marriage? Is that one of the reasons for divorce?" The above is his answer.
Gates also added, "I don't think it's constructive to go into detail at this point, but yes, I caused pain and I feel terrible about it."
Bill Gates and May Linda Gates announced her divorce in May 2021, which was finalized in August of that year, and they have since continued to run the Gates Foundation together.
In March of this year, Melinda also accepted an interview with CBS, saying that the marriage change made her "cry in tears for many days" and recalled that she was lying on the carpet at the time, thinking only in her head: "How is this?" Maybe? How can I get out of bed? What should I do in the future?”
In the interview with “Today”, Gates also talked about the sadness that Melinda expressed in the CBS interview. Tough Things, "It was a very hard time. We had a lot of great things in our marriage: the kids, the fun that we had. So it was a very hard adjustment."
on Gates on divorce decision announced After admitting to her extramarital affair 20 years ago, Melinda responded, "Of course I believe in forgiveness and forgiveness, so I think we have solved part of the problem. This thing did not happen suddenly at a certain time, nor was it because of a specific person. The trigger. But at a certain point, I realized something was wrong."
As for whether Gates had multiple extramarital affairs, Melinda only said, "This is a question that Bill needs to answer."
In addition to the issue of extramarital affairs, Melinda also talked about Epstein . She once made it clear to Gates that she did not like his association with Epstein. Melinda once met Epstein. "I just wanted to see who this person was. From the moment I stepped in the door, I regretted it." Melinda said that after meeting Epstein There was a "visceral discomfort" at the time. "He was disgusting and the embodiment of evil. I had nightmares afterwards, thinking about the victims of Epstein's case, and my heart broke for these young women."
Gates first met US billionaire Epstein in 2011, after the financier was convicted in 2008 of soliciting sex from a minor. In August 2019, Epstein was accused of establishing a network of underage women for sex trafficking. He later died mysteriously in prison while awaiting trial.
"Today" host Guthrie clearly asked Gates in the interview, "Why did you continue to see him? When you met him, he was already a convicted sex offender. Do you regret it?"
Gates replied, "I definitely made a huge mistake, not only the first time I met him, but I met him many times. My goal was to raise money for global health, and I didn't realize that I was working with him." When he met, he almost downplayed the incredibly horrific things he had done "
Bill Gates pictured with Epstein at Epstein's mansion in 2011
" including Melinda's suggestion that it was reasonable. "I should have followed it earlier." Gates added this mistake to his "big mistake list." "He was a bad person, but I had reason to think that these meetings would lead to good results. I really didn't." You should meet him."
The 66-year-old philanthropist has published a new book called How to Prevent the Next Pandemic, which explains what steps should be taken now to use the experience of COVID-19 Be prepared for the next pandemic.
Gates proposed establishing a team of thousands of people dedicated to studying and preventing epidemics, with the ability to quickly travel to various outbreak locations. "We've had tens of millions of deaths, trillions of dollars in economic losses, educational losses, depression . We can make sure this doesn't happen again."
" There are over three hundred thousand full-time firefighters in the United States alone. Because if one house burns down, it affects the entire community, so we take it seriously," Gates said. "The pandemic was worse, but we weren't prepared. Gates believes that the World Health Organization is important, but cannot do everything necessary to help prevent epidemics.
"Literally, they don't have the funds to fly to every place where there is an outbreak," he added. WHO needs a "dedicated" team of personnel to help it work on the front lines of potential epidemics
In addition to wanting the United States to be better medically prepared for the new crown pandemic, the politicization of COVID-19 in the United States has given way. Gates regrets that "unfortunately, neither Democrats nor Republicans have adequately stated the benefits of masks and vaccines." Gates believes that misinformation can be fatal during the new crown pandemic.
The book also discusses vaccine innovation. , Gates himself has been involved in COVID-19 vaccine research and has become the protagonist of many conspiracy theories in the United States. He responded, "This is a very strange thing, just because I support vaccines to save millions of people. lives, people just say I'm making money from vaccines, or I'm trying to cause deaths or track (them) and a lot of weird things. It's hard to understand why this is the case.
In the interview, Gates also praised Musk's climate change initiatives with Tesla and his innovations with SpaceX. Gates said Musk should improve Twitter, over free speech and confusing conspiracy theories "I don't know exactly what he's going to do, but it's an opportunity and we need to innovate in that area. ”
editor in charge: Li Yuequn
proofreader: Liu Wei
