Bill Gates Once Described Trump As An Illeist: 'His First Sentence Kind Of Threw Me Off'

A 2018 video obtained by MSNBC featuring Microsoft Corporation MSFT co-founder Bill Gates expressing his opinion about former President Donald Trump was used by Inc. Magazine to explain the psychology behind persons similar to Trump.

While addressing the staff of the "Gates Foundation," Gates recounted his peculiar interaction with Trump. The tech billionaire pointed out that Trump refers to himself in the third person.

"When I walked in, his first sentence kind of threw me off. He said, 'Trump hears that you don't like what Trump is doing.'" And I thought, 'wow, you're Trump!'" Gates said in the MSNBC video clip.

"I didn't know if the third-party form is what was expected," Gates said.

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This practice of referring to oneself in the third person is called illeism, Inc. Magazine noted. The publication also referred to Trump’s reference to himself in speeches: “There’s never been a president like President Trump.”

Illeism is a tactic that helps distance oneself from anxiety, Inc. said.

“In particular, psychological distancing through third-person speech makes negative self-views less emotionally troubling, and has even shown to reduce people's level of cardiovascular reactivity,” it added.

In the MSNBC video, Gates was seen reflecting on his interaction with the former president during their rendezvous. Apparently, Trump asked Gates about the supposed ill effects of vaccines and the difference between HIV and HPV infections. Gates noted that the former president commented on his daughter’s appearance, and added that Melinda Gates did not take kindly to the comment.

This article was originally published on July 30, 2022.

Photo: Courtesy of Gage Skidmore and Greg Rubenstein on Flickr