Microsoft co-founder tells foundation meeting it was ‘kind of scary’ how much Trump knew about what Gates’ daughter looked like
Reality Check: Fate of Americans is in the hand of a president that doesn’t know the difference between HIV and HPV but he has memorized Bill Gates’ daughter’s appearance.
“So if he spent more time actually learning policy, if he devoted just a quarter of the time that he devotes to harassing women and gawking at women to actual policy, memorising and learning policy, I think the country would be a lot better off.”
– Chris Hayes, MSNBC
Bill Gates Says Donald Trump Asked — Twice — If ‘There Was a Difference Between’ HPV and HIV
Bill Gates, the billionaire entrepreneur and philanthropist, has claimed Donald Trump twice asked him the difference between HIV and HPV and knew a “scary” amount about Gates’s daughter’s looks.
Past conversations between Bill Gates and President Donald Trump are now being revealed.
In a video obtained by MSNBC’s All In with Chris Hayes, the Microsoft founder says that on two separate occasions — once at the Trump Tower in December 2016 and another time in March 2017 at the White House — Trump wanted to know if the Human Papillomaviruses (HPV) and the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) were the same thing.
“Both times, he wanted to know if there was a difference between HPV and HIV,” Gates, 62, said in the clip that aired on Thursday.
“So I was able to explain that those are rarely confused with each other,” added the tech mogul and philanthropist.
Exclusive footage obtained by All In… Bill Gates dishes on his meetings with Donald Trump. More tonight at 8PM ET. #inners pic.twitter.com/Zoehj1WTfk
— All In w/Chris Hayes (@allinwithchris) May 17, 2018
According to Health, the Human Papillomaviruses (HPV) can be sexually transmitted and “infections are very common” with “relatively few people [having] lasting health effects. HPV affects the skin and moist membranes. HPV can cause problems such as verrucas, genital warts and abnormal cell changes in the cervix”.
Meanwhile, the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is “most commonly” transmitted sexually along with the use of needles or syringes, according to the CDC.
There is currently no cure for HIV, which “weakens a person’s immune system by destroying important cells that fight disease and infection. HIV infection can lead to Aids; however, with early diagnosis and treatment, most people don’t go on to develop Aids.” but “with proper medical care, [it] can be controlled,” states the agency.
Never before seen footage obtained exclusively by All In shows Bill Gates discussing meetings with Donald Trump #inners pic.twitter.com/GouJwYKghi
— All In w/Chris Hayes (@allinwithchris) May 18, 2018
In addition to the question about HIV and HPV, Gates said that in both of those meetings Trump also wanted to know more about vaccines.
They met again in March last year at the White House. Gates continued: “In both of those two meetings, he asked me if vaccines weren’t a bad thing because he was considering a commission to look into ill-effects of vaccines and somebody – I think it was Robert Kennedy Jr – was advising him that vaccines were causing bad things. And I said no, that’s a dead end, that would be a bad thing, don’t do that.
Trump since appears to have abandoned plans to investigate debunked theories linking childhood immunisations and autism. Robert F Kennedy Jr told the Guardian earlier this year that parents and children’s health advocates felt “enormous betrayal and disappointment” at the decision.
Gates is hardly known for his comic timing but he frequently prompted laughter from the audience at the foundation event. In one anecdote he said: “When I walked in, his first sentence kind of threw me off. He said: ‘Trump hears that you don’t like what Trump is doing.’ And I thought, ‘Wow, but you’re Trump.’ I didn’t know the third-party form was always expected. ‘Gates says that Gates knows that you’re not doing things right.’”
Trump has a now-familiar verbal tic of referring to himself in the third person.
Hayes said his show had sought comment from the Gates Foundation but has not yet received a response. Tara Dowdell, Democratic strategist, told the MSNBC host: “We’re looking at a president that doesn’t know the difference between HIV and HPV but he has memorized Bill Gates’ daughter’s appearance.
“So if he spent more time actually learning policy, if he devoted just a quarter of the time that he devotes to harassing women and gawking at women to actual policy, memorising and learning policy, I think the country would be a lot better off.”
Whaddaya Say?