Bill Gates is best known as an American business mogul, entrepreneur, honorary Harvard graduate, software developer, and philanthropist. This week Gatesis in New York City as part of the United Nations General Assembly to address issues of global safety, including climate change, the current global pandemic, and structural racism.
On Tuesday night, PBS News Hour’s Judy Woodruff sat down with Gates. Roughly ten minutes into an insightful PBS News Hour interview about vaccine equity, boosters, climate change, and his foundation — the tone of the interview abruptly changed when Gates was questioned about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.
Around the 10:50 minute-mark, Woodruff asks Gates, “You had a number of meetings with Jeffrey Epstein, who — when you met him 10 years ago — he was convicted of soliciting prostitution from minors. What did you know about him when you were meeting with him, as you’ve said yourself, in the hopes of raising money?”
“You know, I had [multiple] dinners with him,” Gates cringingly replied. “I regret doing that. He had relationships with people he said would give to global health, which is an interest I have. Not nearly enough philanthropy goes in that direction. Those meetings were a mistake. They didn’t result in what he purported, and I cut them off.”
“You know, that goes back a long time ago now. So there’s nothing new on [about] that,” he added.
Despite Gates’ insistence that he regretted the dinners he took with Epstein, Woodruff pressed onwards on the topic, resulting in a bit of stumbling on Gates’ part, as he echoed: “I said I regret having those dinners, and there’s nothing, absolutely new on that.”
As the conversation dragged on and Woodruff asked about any lesson learned from the Epstein Dinners, Gates said, “Well, he’s dead, so… In general, you always have to be careful.”
Watch the interview in full below.