Donald Trump Blasts ‘Mini Mike’ Bloomberg, Says DNC Is Rigging Primary Election
In a series of Twitter messages posted late Saturday, President Donald Trump ripped into billionaire and Democratic presidential candidate, Michael Bloomberg. Trump started off the tweetstorm with a message slamming both the former New York City mayor and the media outlets he owns, railing against “fake news.”
“Mini Mike is part of the Fake News. They are all working together,” the president said, accusing Bloomberg’s publications of only covering him, instead of covering all presidential candidates, including Bloomberg himself.
In a follow-up Twitter post, Trump took aim at Bloomberg and the Democratic National Committee (DNC), suggesting that the governing body of the Democratic Party is colluding with the billionaire in order to “rig” the election against Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
“Many of the ads you are watching were paid for by Mini Mike Bloomberg. He is going nowhere, just wasting his money, but he is getting the DNC to rig the election against Crazy Bernie,” Trump said, referring to a recent rule change the DNC made.
As Trump pointed out, other candidates — including New Jersey Democrat Cory Booker — have asked the DNC to change its debate rules, which the organization refused to do, only to change them earlier this week, opening the door for Bloomberg to participate in the debates.
The DNC completely eliminated the individual donor threshold, potentially allowing the self-funded billionaire to qualify for the debates. Bloomberg, who is not running a traditional presidential campaign, is winning support by blanketing the airwaves with advertisements, far outspending all other White House hopefuls.
Trump concluded the tweetstorm by poking fun at Bloomberg’s short stature.
Mini Mike is now negotiating both to get on the Democrat Primary debate stage, and to have the right to stand on boxes, or a lift, during the debates. This is sometimes done, but really not fair!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 2, 2020
Bloomberg’s late-entry could complicate matters for several presidential candidates, including the leading duo; Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden.
Biden’s allies are reportedly worried about the possibility of Bloomberg eating into Biden’s support among moderates — which would likely increase Sanders’ chances of winning the nomination — and Sanders’ allies are concerned about the billionaire’s apparent collaboration with the DNC.
According to those close to Bloomberg, however, the billionaire is in the race not only to stop Sanders from winning the nomination but also to provide a centrist alternative if Biden stumbles.
The DNC’s decision to relax the rules has attracted criticism from other candidates as well, including entrepreneur Andrew Yang, who said that the new debate requirements appear “tailor-made” to appease Bloomberg. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts has also expressed opposition to the change.
Filmmaker Michael Moore, a Sanders supporter, railed against the DNC during a campaign event in Iowa on Saturday, alleging that the “one percent” of the Democratic Party is looking to destroy Sanders’ campaign. Moore also railed against the decision to change the rules and allow Bloomberg on the debate stage, stating that the former New York City mayor is only being allowed to debate “because he’s got a billion f*cking dollars!”
