Bill Gates is presently doing a media tour to speak about his $1 billion clear power partnership with giant firms. But after numerous softball interviews on varied TV networks, Gates clearly wasn’t ready to be requested about any delicate subjects when he sat down for an interview with PBS on Tuesday evening. Gates was requested about his conferences with the late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and the Microsoft billionaire appeared extraordinarily uncomfortable, to say the least.

The New York Times was the primary information outlet to disclose in 2019 Gates had met with Jeffrey Epstein in 2011, only a few years after he was first convicted of soliciting prostitution from underage women in 2008. But we’ve since discovered from the Daily Beast that Gates allegedly met with Epstein “dozens of times” between 2011 and 2014.

PBS Newshour host Judy Woodruff really spent a full 10 minutes discussing different points with Gates earlier than asking the fourth wealthiest particular person on the earth about his relationship to Epstein. And Gates clearly wasn’t anticipating to be requested in regards to the convicted pedophile, who allegedly killed himself in a New York jail in 2019, although many imagine he was murdered by highly effective individuals who needed to maintain him quiet.

“I also want to ask you about something else in the public arena, it was reported at that time, that you had a number of meetings with Jeffrey Epstein—who, when you met him ten years ago, he was convicted of soliciting prostitution from minors,” Woodruff mentioned as a preamble to her query to Gates on Tuesday evening’s present.

“What did you know about him when you were meeting with him—as you’ve said yourself—in the hopes of raising money?” Woodruff requested.

“You know, I had… dinners with him… I regret doing that…” Gates stammered as he was clearly caught off-guard.

“He had relationships with, ahhh, people he said, you know, would give to global health, which is an interest I have,” Gates continued.

“You know, not nearly enough philanthropy goes in that direction. Uh, you know, those meetings were a mistake. They didn’t result in what he purported, and I cut him off,” Gates mentioned. “You know that goes back a long time ago now. I just… so there’s nothing new on that.”

How way back had been these conferences, which Gates says was “a long time ago now”? As the Daily Beast has reported, Gates met with Epstein as just lately as 2014, one thing Gates has not verbally denied. In 2013, Gates even traveled on Epstein’s private plane, which was nicknamed the Lolita Express—one thing Gates has by no means commented on. Melinda Gates reportedly sought her divorce from Bill no less than partially over Bill’s relationship with the recognized pedophile.

“It was reported that you continued to meet with him over several years, and that—in other words—a number of meetings,” Woodruff adopted up as Gates begins to make faces.

The billionaire shakes his head and his eyes dart to his proper very briefly, the place you possibly can think about Gates taking a look at an assistant and questioning why this query acquired sprung on him. Gates seems to be shaking his head in response to Woodruff saying that Gates met with Epstein over a lot of years, however he by no means verbalizes this disagreement.

“What did you do when you found out about his background?” Woodruff continued.

“Well, you know, I’ve said I regretted having those dinners, uh, and there’s nothing… there’s absolutely nothing new on that,” Gates mentioned, trying more and more irritated.

“Is there a lesson for you… for anyone else looking at this?” Woodruff requested.

“Well, he’s dead, so, uh, in general you always have to be careful,” Gates mentioned coldly earlier than seeming to understand how bizarre that sounds.

“And, you know, I’m very proud of what we’ve done in philanthropy. Very proud of the work of the [Bill and Melinda Gates] Foundation, you know. That’s what I get up every day and focus on,” Gates mentioned.

Any written transcript of the change from final evening actually doesn’t do the interview justice. You should watch the video to see Gates squirm so uncomfortably.

There are nonetheless many, many questions that haven’t been answered about Jeffrey Epstein’s relationship to Bill Gates, one thing we might by no means see resolved. Even essentially the most fundamental query of what number of instances Gates met with Epstein hasn’t been nailed down but.

Woodruff’s interview fashion must be a lesson to different reporters on the market from media shops that Gates considers pleasant, reminiscent of CNBC, which rarely asks the billionaire a penetrating query. You can nonetheless do the softball stuff firstly of the interview and let Gates say what he desires to say. But by the top, it’s best to undoubtedly ask what must be requested.

Gates clearly desires to place the Epstein saga behind him in order that he can acquire accolades for being a “good” billionaire who’s freely giving cash to worthy causes. Reporters ought to by no means let the problem go till Gates fills in among the gaps, reminiscent of, once more, essentially the most fundamental query of what number of instances Gates really met with Epstein. Then we are able to transfer on to the query of what the hell Gates was doing on the Lolita Express.