President Obama’s star power just got a big boost as wealthy billionaire Bill Gates recently claimed that on some days, he wished President Obama had “more power.”
Speaking at a Politico event in Washington D.C. on Wednesday, Microsoft co-founder and rich philanthropist Bill Gates expressed an appreciation for the political system across the pond. “Some days I wish we had a system like the U.K. where, you know, the party in power could do a lot … but so it’s ironic that right now it feels like I wish there was slightly more power in the presidency to avoid some of these deadlocks,” Gates said. “So I think what he [Obama] wants to do and what he’s actually able to do, the gap is so big there that it’s hard to know in some ways.”
But he conceded that the United States possessed the superior system, telling the audience, “Now, over time, our system has worked slightly better than theirs, theirs has worked okay.”
And while Gates wished the president had a little more power and went on to praise President Obama for his strides in education, he was bipartisan in his praise. “I think the education piece is probably the most unappreciated piece there where Bush, he was definitely unappreciated for the AIDS work.”
Gates has a history of not just verbal bipartisan support, but financial and political as well. The Campaign Money biographical history of Gates details his very even-handed monetary support for both candidates in both major political parties.
