Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates detailed two bizarre run-ins with President Trump — including when the commander-in-chief expressed a need to open a commission into the ill-effects of vaccines — in unearthed footage posted by MSNBC on Thursday.
The surfaced footage shows Gates at a recent talk with his charity, the Gates Foundation, during which the tech godfather said Trump told him he wanted to investigate the safety of vaccines. Trump’s comment came during a March 2017 meeting, Gates recalled, adding that he quickly told Trump it was a bad idea throw doubt on vaccine usage.
“No, that’s a dead end. That would be a bad thing,” Gates told Trump. “Don’t do that.”
Trump has tweeted his skeptical stance on vaccines in the past, saying there have been “many such cases” that led to autism.
Healthy young child goes to doctor, gets pumped with massive shot of many vaccines, doesn't feel good and changes – AUTISM. Many such cases!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 28, 2014
There were plenty of other gems as well, Gates recalled. The tech guru said he never met Trump before he was elected — and had even “avoided” him at one event. Gates mentioned his 22-year-old daughter, Jennifer, had met him first at a horse show in Florida, where Trump had been “super nice.”
But about 20 minutes after talking to his daughter, Trump “flew in on a helicopter to the same place,” according to Gates. “So clearly he had been driven away and he wanted to make a grand entrance on a helicopter.”
Gates eventually went to see Trump at Trump Towers in December 2016, soon after his upset victory over Hillary Clinton in the presidential election. It was “kind of scary how much he knew about my daughter’s appearance,” remembered Gates. “Melinda [Gates’s wife] didn’t like that too well.”
That didn’t stop Gates from pushing Trump to be “associated with innovation,” — whether science, education, or health. Gates said in both of his meetings with Trump there was some confusion, though.
“He wanted to know if there was a difference between HIV and HPV. So I was able to explain those are rarely confused with each other,” remembered Gates, to the audience’s pleasure.
For the record, Human papillomavirus, or HPV, is the most common sexually transmitted disease in the U.S., with about 80 million people effected, according to the Center for Diseases Control. There is a vaccine for HPV, but there isn’t one for Human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, which hurts the immune system by targeting cells.
You can watch the full clip below, thanks to “All In With Chris Hayes.”
Never before seen footage obtained exclusively by All In shows Bill Gates discussing meetings with Donald Trump #inners pic.twitter.com/GouJwYKghi
— All In with Chris Hayes (@allinwithchris) May 18, 2018