Michael Bloomberg was unprepared to defend himself from blistering attacks in his candidacy's first real test

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• Former Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City has shot up into the top-tier of the 2020 presidential race by using his $64 billion fortune to blanket the airwaves with television ads and build up an enviable campaign operation.

• Bloomberg crumbled under pressure, however, at Wednesday night's Democratic presidential debate amid scrutiny over his record on policing in New York and his company's history of using nondisclosure agreements in cases in which female employees alleged harassment or discrimination.

• Sen. Elizabeth Warren in particular bore into Bloomberg with razor-sharp attacks on his company's reported treatment of women, saying, "Democrats take a huge risk if we substitute one arrogant billionaire for another."

• The debate showed how money in politics — even Bloomberg's billions — has diminishing returns in terms of how much it can make up for a candidate's weaknesses.

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Democrats didn't waste any time attacking former Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City at Wednesday night's Democratic presidential debate in Las Vegas — and his collapse under scrutiny over multiple aspects of his political record and campaign revealed how his giant fortune could bolster his campaign only so far.

Former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, and former Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, all turned their fire on Bloomberg at the Paris Theater during the debate, hosted by MSNBC and The Nevada Independent.

After initially ruling out a presidential run in March 2019, Bloomberg made a late entry to the race in November.

With a $64 billion fortune to spend on television ads and building an unparalleled field presence in key states, Bloomberg is now polling at third place nationally at 16% in both Real Clear Politics' and FiveThirtyEight's polling averages.

Since Bloomberg is skipping the first four voting contests altogether and did not qualify for any previous debates, Wednesday night was his first time directly facing his 2020 Democratic rivals and his first time on a debate stage of any kind since 2009.

In recent days and weeks as Bloomberg's multibillion-dollar campaign operation has blanketed the airwaves and propelled him into double digits in the polls with a real shot of winning delegates to the national convention, his rivals have homed in on Bloomberg's many weaknesses.

As Bloomberg was pelted with relentless attacks over his reported insensitive remarks about women, for donating to Republican political candidates, and over New York City's policing practices while he was mayor, he failed at every turn to mount a strong or even coherent defense of himself and his record.

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Bloomberg melted under the scrutiny when pressed over his company's treatment of women

Within the first five minutes, Warren came out of the gate swinging against Bloomberg, saying, "Democrats take a huge risk if we substitute one arrogant billionaire for another."

"I want to talk about who we're running against: a billionaire who calls women fat broads and horse-faced lesbians. And no I'm not talking about Donald Trump — I'm talking about Mayor Bloomberg," Warren said.

Later, Bloomberg deflected from the topic when the MSNBC anchor and NBC News chief White House correspondent Hallie Jackson pressed him on allegations he had made inappropriate remarks, many of which were compiled in a booklet in the 1990s published by Business Insider last week.

Instead of addressing his behavior, Bloomberg rehashed talking points about how his company took claims of harassment seriously and cultivated a positive and empowering work environment for women.

But Bloomberg melted under pressure when Warren and Biden pressed him on Bloomberg LP's use of nondisclosure agreements in cases in which female employees alleged discrimination or harassment at the company.

Bloomberg stumbled under cross-examination from Warren, failing to make a compelling case.

"Listen to what his defense was: 'I've been nice to some women,'" Warren said. "That doesn't cut it. The mayor has to stand on his record and we need to know what's lurking out there. He has gotten some number of women, dozens — who knows? — to sign nondisclosure agreements for sexual harassment and gender discrimination in the workplace." She then asked whether Bloomberg would release the women from their NDAs.

Bloomberg's defense was that none of the women accused him personally of doing anything "other than maybe they didn't like a joke I told," drawing grimaces and groans from the audience. "These were agreements between two parties who wanted to keep it quiet and that's up to them," he said. "They signed those agreements, and we'll live with it."

Warren wasn't satisfied, continuing to press him.

"I just want to be clear, some is how many?" she said. "And when you say they signed them and they wanted them, if they wish now to speak out and tell their side of the story about what it is they allege, that's now OK with you? You're releasing them on television tonight? Is that right?"

Bloomberg continued to evade the question as to whether women who wanted to speak out about their experiences could do so, maintaining that all NDAs signed by his employees were between two parties who wanted to keep the situation out of the public eye.

"This is not just a question about the mayor's character — this is also a question about electability," Warren shot back. "We are not going to beat Donald Trump with a man who has who-knows-how-many nondisclosure agreements and the drip, drip, drip of women who say they have been harassed or discriminated against. That's not what we do as Democrats."

Bloomberg acknowledged one of the signature policies of his mayoral tenure was a failure

Instead of taking the opportunity to tout some of his most successful initiatives as mayor, Bloomberg was attacked and spent an awkward few minutes acknowledging failure with and apologizing for the program known as stop-and-frisk.

The method of policing gives officers free rein to detain and search civilians on the streets without a warrant or an arrest.

Police stops soared 600% from 2002 to 2011, most of Bloomberg's time as mayor, while disproportionately targeting black and Latino men, with an estimated 86% to 90% of those stopped not charged with any criminal offenses during Bloomberg's administration, according to the New York Civil Liberties Union.

In 2013, a federal judge ruled that New York's application of stop-and-frisk policing amounted to a "policy of indirect racial profiling" in violation of the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution, which protects against unreasonable search and seizure.

Warren immediately seized on Bloomberg's phrasing, saying: "When the mayor apologizes, listen very closely to his apology. The language he used isn't about stop-and-risk, it's about how it turned out. This isn't about how it turned out — this is about what it was designed to do. It targeted black and brown men from the beginning."

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Bloomberg was also attacked over his chances against Trump

Bloomberg's ads so far have centered on the idea that his business and executive experience make him best-suited of anyone to take on President Donald Trump. But Bloomberg's opponents at the debate dismantled those arguments one by one, leaving Bloomberg with little to stand on.

"In order to beat Donald Trump, we're going to need the largest voter turnout in the history of the United States," Sanders said at the start of the debate. "Mr. Bloomberg had policies in New York City of stop-and-frisk, which went after African American and Latino people in an outrageous way. That is not a way you're going to grow voter turnout."

Buttigieg argued that aside from his record on racial issues, Bloomberg's billionaire status and past controversies were divisive and polarizing enough to cost Democrats the presidency.

"Democrats could wake up on Super Tuesday and be left with Bernie Sanders and Mike Bloomberg, the two most polarizing figures on this stage," Buttigieg said. "We shouldn't have to choose between one candidate who wants to burn this party down and one candidate who wants to buy this party out."

Warren, one of the nation's leading bankruptcy and consumer-finance experts, has forcefully denounced Bloomberg over resurfaced remarks in which he blamed the 2008 financial crisis on the end of "redlining," the institutional segregation of African Americans enabled by banks' lending practices.

Warren and other candidates onstage drew direct parallels between Bloomberg and Trump, even further undermining Bloomberg's argument that he poses a perfect contrast to the president.

"Democrats are not going to win if we have a nominee who has a history of hiding his tax returns, of harassing women, and of supporting racist policies like redlining and stop-and-frisk," she said.

And Klobuchar said: "I don't think you look at Donald Trump and say we need someone richer in the White House."

Bloomberg has rocketed to the top tier of the Democratic field with his astronomical ad spending and by strategically targeting Super Tuesday states while the other candidates fight over the early states.

But ultimately, money in politics — even Bloomberg's billions — has diminishing returns in terms of how much it can make up for a candidate's weaknesses.

And the results of Wednesday's debate put into doubt how much money can make up for a candidate like Bloomberg failing at every turn to answer straightforward, tough questions about his record from people within his party — to say nothing of an opponent like Trump.

• Read more:

• Elizabeth Warren picks Michael Bloomberg apart over sexual harassment allegations at his media company

• Elizabeth Warren skewers Michael Bloomberg, calling him 'a billionaire who calls women fat broads and horse-faced lesbians'

• Bloomberg may have entered the race to stop Sanders, but his campaign mostly threatens other moderate candidates

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