Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, is “disappointed” with the Trump ... [+]
Melinda Gates, the co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and one of the most powerful women in the world, has some harsh words for the Trump administration over its response to the coronavirus pandemic.
In an interview with Politico published Thursday evening, Gates gave the administration a “D-minus” grade for how it has handled the spread of the virus, which has killed more than 70,000 Americans. And in a Today show interview Friday morning, Gates reiterated her criticism.
“I’m both surprised we weren’t better prepared, but quite honestly I’m surprised we’ve wasted so much time. That we haven’t had leadership at the national level to get out tests in the right way, protective gear in the right way, contact tracing in the right way,” Gates told Today co-host Savannah Guthrie. “And so you’re seeing what’s happening. And it’s chaos.”
In both interviews, Gates said the 50 different “home-grown solutions” that have been cropping up across the nation’s states “just shouldn’t be.” Giving an example of what she believes to be an effective approach in fighting the virus, she alluded to Chancellor Angela Merkel’s leadership in Germany, noting that a strong national approach, and one based in science, is allowing the country to slowly start to reopen now. “That’s the leadership we should should expect as citizens in this country, and we’re not getting it,” she said.
“Do you lay the blame at the feet of the Trump administration?” Guthrie asked Gates.
“I’m disappointed in what I’ve been seeing, yes,” Gates replied.
White House deputy press secretary Judd Deere told Politico Thursday night that the administration’s response to the virus has been “unprecedented,” going on to say, “The White House has been working with governors and their teams since January on this whole-of-government response, including supply chains, testing, data-driven guidelines for social distancing and now a responsible plan to open America again.”
The Gates Foundation has been aggressive in donating its own resources to finding a vaccine and treatment for the novel virus: In February, it announced that it would donate $100 million to research and treatment efforts around the world, and in March it announced the launch of the COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator, a $125 million fund dedicated to finding solutions to curb the pandemic.
Of this vaccine search, Gates said on Friday that a viable vaccine is “about 12 to 18 months . . . luckily, it’s looking like there are a few good candidates, and frankly, that’s a relief.”
Gates, who in prepandemic times used her platform to help highlight and speak on issues relating to female education, health and empowerment, isn’t losing sight of these causes amid the fight against the coronavirus. On Friday, she spoke of the need to better support “our most essential workers,” noting that “85% of nurses are women. And yet, who’s the primary caregivers at home? Women.”
Here, too, Gates wants to see more from our nation’s government.
“[Congress] needs to start looking at a paid family medical leave policy,” she said. “We are the only—the only!—industrialized nation in the world that does not have paid family medical leave, and that needs to change.”
