Michael Bloomberg’s late entry into the 2020 Democratic presidential primary hasn’t sat well with everyone, with Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders suggesting that the former New York City mayor is trying to use his wealth to purchase the election . Bloomberg’s decision to skip the key voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire is also a controversial decision that has been attacked by critics, and dark horse candidate Andrew Yang recently took a friendly jab at Bloomberg’s move.
According to Yang’s “theory,” the 77-year-old’s decision to forgo Iowa and New Hampshire and focus on Super Tuesday states is because he “doesn’t like snow.”
“Yang taking shots on a monday afternoon, i like it,” one user responded.
“If it is snowing, Mike is not campaigning,” another joked.
“Now it all makes sense!” another chimed in.
Per The New York Post , Bloomberg’s decision to skip Iowa and New Hampshire will reportedly help him “get up to speed” with other candidates that have been campaigning for months. Using his $52 billion fortune, Bloomberg can target the 14 states that vote on Super Tuesday: Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia.
But Bloomberg’s plan comes with risks. According to political experts, skipping New Hampshire could prove troublesome.
“New Hampshire is a better bet,” said University of Southern California professor Robert Shrum, who noted that Bloomberg could “blanket the Boston TV market” in the open primary state.
I’ve got a theory – Mike Bloomberg doesn’t like snow. ? pic.twitter.com/lDuMBhcrFE
— Andrew Yang????? (@AndrewYang) December 2, 2019
Yang previously addressed Bloomberg’s late entry into the 2020 race by suggesting that the businessman would have a tough go considering the months other candidates have spent on the campaign trail connecting with potential voters, CNN reports.
“It’s going to be very, very difficult for him to jump in right now and somehow replace the thousands of conversations many of the candidates have had with voters in New Hampshire and Iowa and around the country with ad buys. There are limits to what money can do.”
Nevertheless, the 44-year-old serial entrepreneur did not fault Bloomberg for his entry into the race and said he believes Bloomberg “has a lot to add,” noting his leadership and philanthropy.
As The Inquisitr previously reported, Bloomberg reportedly received more cable news mentions in November than Yang has the entire race — 4,486 for Bloomberg and 2,167 for Yang as of the writing of the week ending November 24 . Although Bloomberg has more name recognition than Yang, the numbers nevertheless continue to shed light on the trouble the entrepreneur has had getting attention from mainstream news networks such as MSNBC.