The NYT learned about Bill Gates’ secret donation to US presidential candidate Kamala Harris

The Microsoft co-founder has invested in Future Forward, the main outside fundraising group backing Harris, they said. Gates’ donation was supposed to remain secret because he had refrained from participating in politics or supporting any presidential candidate for “decades,” the newspaper said.

At the same time, in private conversations with friends and others, the businessman expressed concern about how the second term of the presidency of Donald Trump, the candidate of the Republican Party, will unfold, one of the interlocutors told the NYT. In particular, representatives of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation are concerned about possible cuts to family planning and global health programs if Trump wins the election, other sources close to the foundation said.

The Microsoft co-founder discussed Harris’ donation, including with former New York mayor and Bloomberg founder Michael Bloomberg, who was considering the option of investing a similar amount in the politician’s presidential campaign, the newspaper’s interlocutors said. They said Gates made a contribution to Future Forward’s nonprofit arm, Future Forward USA Action, which as a 501(c)(4) organization does not reveal the names of its donors.

In statements to the NYT, the businessman neither confirmed nor denied reports about a possible donation to Harris and emphasized his commitment to different political directions: “I support candidates who demonstrate a clear commitment to improving health care, reducing poverty and the fight against climate change in the world. United States and around the world. “I have extensive experience working with leaders across the political spectrum, but this election is different and has unprecedented importance for Americans and the world’s most vulnerable people.”

• The next presidential election in the United States will take place on November 5. Another candidate for the post of head of the country, Trump, has the active support of SpaceX founder Elon Musk.
• In particular, in July-September, the businessman donated a total of almost 75 million dollars to politics, in October he spoke at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and that same month he promised to give Trump supporters 1 million dollars a day until the election itself. The businessman delivered the first check on October 19 to one of the participants in the demonstration in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.