In This Story
Melinda French Gates endorsed President Joe Biden’s reelection bid on Thursday, marking the first time the philanthropist has waded into a presidential race.
French Gates, 59, wrote in an op-ed for CNN that “the stakes for women and families couldn’t be higher.”
“I’ve never endorsed a presidential candidate before. My work on gender equality and global health often requires me to work with leaders on both sides of the aisle, so I’ve avoided talking publicly about who I voted for in past elections,” she explained. “But this year is different.”
French Gates said that former President Donald Trump’s first term in office “endangered the health of women, compromising their safety and robbing them of essential freedoms.”
Her decision to endorse Biden comes a month after she announced that she left The Gates Foundation, the charity she founded with her ex-husband, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. The two divorced in 2021.
After departing from The Gates Foundation, French Gates said she planned to give $1 billion “on behalf of women and families around the world, including on reproductive rights in the United States” through her philanthropy, Pivotal.
In her CNN op-ed, French Gates specifically cited the overturning of Roe v. Wade as one of the reasons she is endorsing Biden in the 2024 Presidential election.
Trump “deliberately appointed Supreme Court justices who would overturn Roe v. Wade, which resulted in a decision with far-reaching and catastrophic consequences for women and families,” she wrote.
She also lauded Biden’s record on funding reproductive health for women in the U.S. and abroad.
“While Trump has boasted about rolling back the rights of women, Biden understands that the future of our country depends on them. That’s why Biden has earned my vote. I urge anyone who cares about women and families to join me,” French Gates said.