WORLD NEWS: US - Melinda Gates says gender of President doesn't matter

Philanthropist and women's rights campaigner Melinda Gates has told Sky News that it does not matter what gender the President of the United States is.

Her comments come as Hillary Clinton, with whom she has worked closely on health and equality issues, fights to secure her party's nomination and become the first woman in the White House.

In an interview to mark International Women's Day, Mrs Gates said a female president's ability to level the playing field for women in America would depend on the policies they put in place.
"Everything right now is about being elected, but to me it's all about what actions do they take afterwards," she said.

When asked whether this means a president's gender doesn't matter, she replied: "I don't think it matters. I think Chancellor Merkel in Germany is a phenomenal chancellor and I think she would be if she was male or female."

Recently, there was a backlash against the Hillary Clinton campaigner and former secretary of state Madeleine Albright, who said there was "a special place in hell reserved for women who don't help each other".

It was a comment that went down particularly poorly with young women voters.

Although Mrs Gates doesn't believe this age group is being complacent about gender equality, she says they may feel differently once they've faced the inequality problems that often come with age.

She explained: "As we know, as women move further and further in their career, they hit more obstacles.

"I think some of those young women are hitting those obstacles, some haven't."

We move on to Donald Trump and his insulting comments towards women. Is she surprised that such a tone hasn't just been tolerated, but actually helped make him more popular?

Mrs Gates sighed: "The campaign trail is the campaign trail, and it has its ups and downs, it has days that surprise me.

"I think the good thing is though, sometimes when you hear any candidate say something that is off-centre, semi-inflammatory or outrageous, people are pushing back very quickly, and that's the power of social media."

Mrs Gates is famously reluctant to discuss politics and politicians - so her remarks, although carefully worded, are a rare departure from the norm.

In a wide-ranging interview the philanthropist, who is a Roman Catholic but believes in contraception, also said the Pope was "admirable" for suggesting contraception could be used to control the spread of the Zika virus.

And she revealed some of the inner workings of the Gates household, disclosing that even she had to fight the problem of what she calls "time poverty" - women taking on a disproportionate amount of unpaid work at home.

Mrs Gates explained: "Finally I said, 'you know what? Nobody leaves the kitchen until I leave the kitchen' - and once I did that, everything happened really quickly!"

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