London’s Labour mayor Sadiq Khan has infuriated party supporters after seemingly coming out in favor of Michael Bloomberg as his preferred choice over Bernie Sanders in the US Democratic primaries and likely to beat Donald Trump.
In an interview with Politico, Khan appeared to rule out Bernie Sanders – the socialist who, after the first three states’ verdicts, is the current frontrunner in the US Democratic Party’s presidential primaries – as the candidate to unseat the incumbent Republican president.
The London mayor – who has been less than enthusiastic in his support for Labour’s very own democratic socialist – Jeremy Corbyn – since being elected leader in 2015, asserts that it’s important the US Democrats pick someone who can beat Trump.
He suggested that candidate was Bloomberg, praising him for being a “self-made billionaire,” calling him “interesting” and remarking that he “clearly gets under Trump’s skin.”
If it’s Bloomberg vs Trump it will be a really interesting campaign; two New Yorkers. One of whom is a successful self-made billionaire. The other one less successful, lost his dad’s money, doing less well.
He ostensibly dismissed the chances of Sanders in any head-to-head with Trump, saying that he’d “query” whether the Vermont senator “would do as well.”
The 78 year-old former New York city mayor who is currently ranked eighth in Forbes’ rich list, with a net worth of $59.8 billion as of February 2020, will officially enter the Democratic primaries’ race on March 3, known as ‘Super Tuesday.’
Khan’s glowing assessment of Bloomberg’s candidacy triggered many Labour supporters online, who see the billionaire as an elitist figure who doesn’t represent their values. One person took a swipe at Khan for backing the “misogynist billionaire,” a reference to allegations made against him relating to his alleged behavior at certain events in the 1990s. Another bluntly tweeted: “You’re joking? Tell me this isn’t true.”
From today's Politico Brussels. Our "Labour" mayor backs the misogynist billionaire Mike Bloomberg over the one with the social democratic policies, Bernie Sanders pic.twitter.com/nKaMyqJjxp
Others took issue with Khan’s “self-made billionaire” remarks. “It’s really telling that he sees success in terms of how much money someone has made,” tweeted one critic.
Bloomberg was roasted on Twitter earlier this week after his campaign posted, and then deleted, fake Bernie Sanders quotes hailing alleged “despots.” His social media team had taken aim at the Vermont senator with a series of tweets ridiculing his factually accurate statement that literacy in Cuba skyrocketed under former leader Fidel Castro.
