Bernie Sanders, Mike Bloomberg rivalry erupts into a war of words

Democrat White House contenders Bernie Sanders and Mike Bloomberg have stepped up their attacks on each other.

‘We need to unite to defeat Trump in November,’ says Mike Bloomberg, who has qualified for the next Democratic candidates’ debate on Thursday (AEDT). Picture: AFP

Democrat White House contenders Bernie Sanders and Mike Bloomberg have stepped up their attacks on each other, with Senator Sanders accusing the media mogul of trying to buy the election and Mr Bloomberg saying the senator and his fervent supporter­s are hurting the party.

As Mr Bloomberg qualified via polling for Thursday’s (AEDT) Democratic candidates’ debate in Las Vegas — where he will appear alongside his rivals for the first time — Senator Sanders compared the former New York mayor with Republican President Don­ald Trump, saying both were billionaires trying to use their wealth to bend a corrupt political system.

“Mr Bloomberg, like anyone else, has a right to run for president. He does not have a right to buy the presidency!” he told thousands of supporters at a rally in Richmond, near San Francisco, who booed at the mention of the mogul’s name.

The attacks in California, includi­ng criticism of Mr Bloomberg’s record on race, echoed a serie­s of criticisms that Senator Sanders levelled over the weekend in Nevada and Colorado.

That drew a response on Tuesday from Mr Bloomberg, who tweeted a video featuring alleged Sanders supporters — his fervent online backers or “Bernie Bros” — attacking other candid­ates and their supporters on social media. It ended with a clip of Senator Sanders calling for “civil discourse”, then the question: “Really?”

“We need to unite to defeat Trump in November,” Mr Bloomberg said in the tweet. “This type of ‘energy’ is not going to get us there.”

Mr Bloomberg’s campaign said the attacks from Senator Sanders were “shameful” and compared him to Mr Trump for also unfairly criticising the billionaire.

It said the attacks were a sign of the growing threat posed by Mr Bloomberg, who has risen sharply in opinion polls after pouring hundreds of millions of his own dollars into advertising in states that vote in March or later.

Senator Sanders leads polls nat­ionally and in Nevada, where the next nominating contest will be held on Sunday, after strong finishes in Iowa and New Hampshire.

“At this point, the primary is Bernie’s to lose, and ours to win. Bernie knows this. Trump knows this. That’s why they are united in the campaign against Mike,” said Bloomberg campaign manager Kevin Sheekey. “This campaign will not sit idly by and allow these false attacks to stand without response.”

Senator Sanders criticised Mr Bloomberg’s support while New York mayor of “stop-and-frisk” policies targeting African-Americans. Mr Bloomberg has apolo­gised for supporting the tactic.

The senator said Mr Bloom­berg had opposed a minimum wage and had called for cuts to ­social assistance programs. “Imagine a multi-billionaire opposing a raise in the minimum wage. Imagine a multi-billionaire asking for cuts to social security, Medicare and Medicaid,” he told the crowd.

Reuters