Leading Democrats take aim at Bloomberg as Nevada caucuses loom
A week out from the Nevada caucuses, leading contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination came out swinging – at each other, but also at Michael Bloomberg.
Related: Michael Bloomberg rocked by re-emergence of sexist remarks
“$60bn can buy you a lot of advertising,” former vice-president Joe Biden told NBC’s Meet the Press, about the former New York mayor’s fortune and massive campaign spending.
“But it can’t erase your record.”
Bloomberg is not competing in Nevada but targeting instead the Super Tuesday states which vote on 3 March. As he has risen in the polls – as Biden has faltered as the standard-bearer of the party’s moderate wing – he has attracted increasing attacks.
This week, Bloomberg has been confronted with past comments about the stop-and-frisk policing policy which many deemed racist, questions over his analysis of the 2008 financial crisis and, on Saturday, a bombshell Washington Post report on his past comments about women and minorities while at the helm of his eponymous company.
Bloomberg reacted to the Post story by releasing testimony from female employees and saying: “As I’ve demonstrated throughout my career, I will always be a champion for women in the workplace.”
Needless to say, the attacks kept coming. Speaking in Las Vegas on Saturday night, the Vermont senator and New Hampshire winner Bernie Sanders said Bloomberg implemented “racist policies like stop-and-frisk” and opposed the minimum wage and higher taxes on the wealthy during the Obama administration.
A spokeswoman said in response Bloomberg raised taxes on the wealthy when he was mayor and “as president … will raise rates on high-income earners, tax capital income more equitably, close loopholes, and bolster enforcement.”
Sanders insisted: “The simple truth is that Mayor Bloomberg, with all his money, will not create the kind of excitement and energy we need to have the voter turnout we must have to defeat Donald Trump.”
On Sunday Amy Klobuchar, the Minnesota senator whose third-placed finish in New Hampshire has energised her campaign from the party’s centre, used appearances across the political talk shows to criticise Bloomberg for failing to face such questioning from the media.
“I don’t think you should be able to hide behind airways and huge ad buys,” she told CNN’s State of the Union. “I’m also an advocate for him coming on the debate stage. I know I’m not going to be able to beat him on the airways but I can beat him on the debate stage.”
Bloomberg has not appeared in any debates, his self-funding precluding him under rules set by the Democratic National Committee. Those rules have been changed, but if Bloomberg does appear he will face concentrated fire.
On NBC, Biden said: “There’s a lot to talk about with Michael Bloomberg. You all are going to start focusing on him like you have on me … the last six months. You’re going to focus on him. His position on issues relating to the African American community, from stop-and-frisk to the way he talked about Obama.
“On several issues, like guns, he was a real ally. He was a real ally. But if you notice, he wouldn’t even endorse Barack in 2008. He wouldn’t endorse him. You know, he endorsed Bush. He endorsed, you know, the Republican before that. All of a sudden he’s his best buddy. You know … he would not endorse him.”
Bloomberg ran for mayor of New York as a Republican before becoming an independent. In his run for the Democratic nomination, he is attracting support from the centre of the party including, as the Guardian revealed on Saturday, prominent supporters of Obama.
In commercial breaks on the talk shows, Bloomberg’s campaign aired an ad featuring Obama praising the former mayor.
“You take a look at the stop-and-frisk proposals,” Biden continued “… You take a look at what he’s done relative to the African American community. I’m anxious to debate Michael on the issues relating to, you know, what we’re going to face in Super Tuesday.”
African American voters form a key bloc in the Democratic primary which will come firmly into play in South Carolina, the next state to vote after Nevada. Bloomberg and another billionaire, Tom Steyer, have begun to make inroads as Biden’s backing has declined.
In his NBC interview, the former vice-president claimed “overwhelming support” but said: “You can’t take it for granted. Last time we ran it was basically taken for granted. I’m the only one who has the record and has the background and has the support. They know me. They know who I am.”
Biden said he would have “to do really well” in South Carolina and added: “We’re just getting to the meat of getting to the number of delegates you need to be able to win this election. And I’m confident we’re going to be in good shape.”
Regarding Nevada, Biden took aim at Sanders over attacks by some supporters against female leaders of the Culinary Union, a key source of Democratic votes in a state dominated by the service and hospitality industries, which came out against the senator’s Medicare for All healthcare plan.
Sanders issued a statement condemning the attacks but Biden said: “He may not be responsible for it but he has some accountability …
“You know me well enough to know if any of my supporters did that, I’d disown them. Flat disown them. The stuff that was said online, the way they threatened these two women who are leaders in that Culinary Union. It is outrageous.
“…I invite anybody to go and take a look, the things they said, the vicious, malicious, misogynistic things they said. The threats they put out. And to say ‘I disassociate’ is one thing. Find out who the hell they are, if any of them work for me. Fire them. Find out. See what’s going on.”
