“They’re using somebody else’s money and those other people expect something from them,” Mike Bloomberg said of his competitors, who he believes “had a chance to go out and make a lot of money.”
Michael Bloomberg gave his first television interview on Friday since entering the race for the Democratic Party presidential nomination and he made sure to single himself out in a crowded field.
Bloomberg, who is said to be worth more than $50 billion, has faced accusations from other candidates such as Bernie Sanders of trying to simply “buy” the election. The former New York City mayor told CBS This Morning that he is unapologetic about his fortune or his ability to self-finance his own campaign — he’s already invested nearly $60 million in television advertising since announcing his candidacy last month.
“They had a chance to go out and make a lot of money. And how much of their own money do they put into their campaigns?” Bloomberg flatly said of the other Democratic candidates, which include Sanders, Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, and others.
“I’m doing exactly the same thing they’re doing, except that I am using my own money,” he continued. “They’re using somebody else’s money and those other people expect something from them. Nobody gives you money if they don’t expect something. And I don’t want to be bought.”
Bloomberg’s mission in his interview was clearly to dramatically contrast himself with the current crop of Democrat candidates, none of whom have become standout frontrunners. With Warren, Sanders and Biden offering more taxes and to boost nearly every social program on the books, Bloomberg is setting himself up as the candidate who can speak to more than just the far-left, but also to the large group of independent voters who will no doubt decide the 2020 election.
Bloomberg, 77, even said he is the one to beat Trump out of every possible Democrat nominee. He theorized Trump would “eat ‘em up” when it comes to everyone else running. He later corrected himself to simply say he is the best choice to go against the current president.
Bloomberg is not just contrasting himself with a “no apologies” attitude about his wealth, but he’s also setting himself up as the most relatable candidate by constantly mentioning his beginnings as the son of a poor family — which will eventually contrast him with Trump should he make it to the general election.
“Nobody gave me a head start,” Bloomberg told CBS, noting his own father made “$6,000 the best year of his life.”
The biggest similarity between Trump and Bloomberg will be their unapologetic spending of their own wealth on their campaigns and the fact that such spending allows each of them to claim they are not beholden to donors or corporations. Trump made that point when he was running in 2016 and now he could be facing someone making that very same argument in 2020.
Running as a Democrat proud of his wealth and unapologetic about his “privilege” may seem like an odd move in the modern Democratic Party, but Bloomberg has always been an odd politician. He entered this race later than anyone else and he’s not even a loyal Democrat.
He first ran for mayor as a Republican and then later as an Independent, only to then switch back to the Democrat Party. While that flimsy affiliation to the party may not seem like a solid background to get the nomination, Bloomberg is no doubt banking on just such a past allowing him to break free of the left and earn not only votes in the middle, but also in the right from those ready for a change from Trump, but not enough of a change to warrant Sanders or Warren in the White House.
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