Donald Trump lets rip at Michael Bloomberg
Donald Trump has stepped up his personal attacks on billionaire Michael Bloomberg as his chance at Democrat nominee grows.
Donald Trump has stepped up his personal attacks on billionaire Michael Bloomberg in a sign that the White House believes the former New York mayor has a growing chance of being the Democrat nominee.
Mr Bloomberg’s prospects of winning the nomination despite his late entry into the race were seen to have been boosted by the non-conclusive outcomes of the first two Democrat ballots in New Hampshire and Iowa.
If the results in next week’s Nevada caucus and the South Carolina primary also fail to produce a clear frontrunner, Democrats may be more tempted to turn to Mr Bloomberg when he enters the race in the Super Tuesday ballots on March 3. In a series of derogatory tweets, the President on Friday AEDT dubbed 77-year-old Mr Bloomberg a “loser” and mocked his height and personality.
“Mini Mike is a 5’4” mass of dead energy who does not want to be up on the debate stage with these professional politicians,” Mr Trump tweeted. “No boxes please. He hates Crazy Bernie and will, with enough money, possibly stop him. Bernie’s people will go nuts.”
Earlier Mr Trump tweeted; “Mini Mike Bloomberg is a LOSER who has money but can’t debate and has zero presence, you will see. He reminds me of a tiny version of Jeb ‘Low Energy’ Bush, but Jeb has more political skill and has treated the Black community much better than Mini!”
Mr Bloomberg has yet to participate in a Democrat debate or primary contest but has spent about $US350m ($520m) on digital and broadcast advertising, more than the other seven Democrat candidates combined. This has seen him dominate the airways across the country at a time when his competitors were narrowly focused on the small first voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire.
Despite not being on the debate stage or a candidate in the first four Democrat primary contests, Mr Bloomberg is third in national polls with 14.2 per cent support, behind only Bernie Sanders on 23.6 per cent and former vice-president Joe Biden on 19.2 per cent. If Mr Bloomberg receives another Democrat-approved poll result over 10 per cent in the next few days he will qualify for the next Democrat presidential debate in Las Vegas next week.
That would allow Americans to get a better idea of whether Mr Bloomberg, who is worth an estimated $US50bn, has what it takes to sell his moderate policy platform to voters.
His looming entry into the race has increased fears he will help further split the vote among the crowded field of moderate candidates who are trying to ensure the nomination is not won by the democratic socialist Senator Sanders. Former mayor Pete Buttigieg, senator Amy Klobuchar and Mr Biden are also competing for the vote of moderate Democrats while Senator Sanders almost has the liberal field to himself with only the fading senator Elizabeth Warren to compete with.
Mr Trump and Mr Bloomberg’s Democratic rivals have tried to attack his record with African-Americans while mayor of New York. They have highlighted his so-called stop-and-frisk policy, which saw the targeted frisking of black and Latino New Yorkers as part of efforts to reduce crime.
“I don’t think words reflect how I led the most diverse city in the nation,” he said this week in response to the criticism. “And I apologise for the practice and pain that it caused.” Liberal Democrat contenders senators Sanders and Warren have accused Mr Bloomberg of trying to buy the election, while he counters that he needs to spend big because he is a late entry into the race.
Rather than focus on the early contests in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina, Mr Bloomberg will enter the race on Super Tuesday when 14 states vote and one-third of delegates are awarded.
Mr Bloomberg has campaigned mostly in larger states that are rich with delegates and has also focused heavily on winning the support of African-Americans, a key voting constituency for any Democrat nominee.
Cameron Stewart is also US contributor for Sky News Australia
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