During Wednesday night’s Democratic debate, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg criticized Sen. Bernie Sanders for being a communist who owns multiple homes.
“What a wonderful country we have,” the billionaire Bloomberg said. “The best known socialist in the country happens to be a millionaire with three houses.”
The heated exchange between Sanders and Bloomberg took place on the debate stage — three days before the Nevada caucuses — where six Democratic candidates attacked each other throughout the evening, with special attention paid to Bloomberg.
Sanders — who in response to Bloomberg defended his ownership of homes in Burlington and Washington and a camp in North Hero — opened the night with a salvo against the former mayor.
The Vermont senator attacked Bloomberg for the stop and frisk policing policy he had implemented, saying it disproportionately impacted people of color and that Bloomberg would not be able to “grow voter turnout” needed to defeat President Donald Trump.
Bloomberg responded by telling Sanders he doesn’t think “there’s any chance of the senator beating President Trump.”
Then, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., quickly jumped in.
“I’d like to talk about who we’re running against: a billionaire who calls women fat broads and horse-faced lesbians. And no, I’m not talking about Donald Trump; I’m talking about Mayor Bloomberg,” she said.
Warren’s line of attack came at the beginning of a night in which she would double down on Bloomberg’s treatment of women, pressing him on his knowledge of sexual harassment cases in his company.
“The mayor has to stand on his record and what we need to know is exactly what’s lurking out there. He has gotten some number of women, dozens, who knows, to sign non-disclosure agreements both for sexual harassment and gender discrimination in the workplace,” Warren said.
“So, Mr. Mayor, are you willing to release all of those women from those non-disclosure agreements so we can hear their side of the story?” she asked Bloomberg. He firmly said he would not.
While Bloomberg sustained the majority of criticism throughout the night, another former mayor, Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, went on the offensive. His claim: Sanders and Bloomberg are different sides of the same coin.
“We could wake up two weeks from today, the day after Super Tuesday, and the only candidates left standing will be Bernie Sanders and Mike Bloomberg, the two most polarizing figures on this stage,” Buttigieg said.
“Most Americans don’t see where they fit if they’ve got to choose between a socialist who thinks that capitalism is the root of all evil and a billionaire who thinks that money ought to be the root of all power,” he said.
“We shouldn’t have to choose between one candidate who wants to burn this party down, and another candidate who wants to buy this party out,” Buttigieg added.
Sanders said he and his campaign are working for the “neglected, working class” and that “polarizing” is the wrong word.
“What we’re saying, Pete, is maybe it’s the time for the working class in this country to have a little bit of power in Washington, rather than your billionaire campaign contributors,” Sanders said.
Sanders also responded angrily to an earlier statement by Bloomberg in which the mayor equated the senator’s self-professed Democratic socialism with communism, calling the remark a “cheap shot.”
The Vermont senator also addressed criticism of his decision not to release detailed health records and charges that his supporters attack his rivals online.
Sanders said he condemns abusive behavior conducted by his supporters, but said it is very possible some of the social media attacks may be part of a foreign interference campaign to divide the Democratic Party.
“I’m not saying that’s happening, but it would not shock me,” he said.
When it came to his health records, Sanders, who had a heart attack last October in Nevada, said the three letters from his doctors and cardiologists that he made public at the end of 2019 show he is in excellent physical and mental health.
Sanders also attempted to bond with Bloomberg over heart surgeries.
“Well, we both have two stents,” he said. “It’s a procedure that is done about a million times a year.”
Sanders entered the debate as the frontrunner in the Democratic primary, coming off a win in New Hampshire, a Top 2 finish in Iowa and the expectation of a win Saturday in Nevada.
In last debate, which took place just before the New Hampshire primary, Sanders weathered attacks Buttigieg who accused the Vermont senator of dividing the country with his policies and the political culture.
Buttigieg would go on to claim 24% of the vote in the Granite State, good for second and just 2 points behind Sanders’ total.
Polling before the debate had the Vermont senator between 7 and 19 points ahead of his closest rival in Nevada.
Since winning in the Granite State, Sanders is also leading in national polling, on average 10 points up on second-place former Vice President Joe Biden and third-place Bloomberg.
Bloomberg entered the race in late November and has spent roughly $400 million on television ad buys since then to raise awareness about his candidacy nationwide.
Ahead of Wednesday evening’s debate, a number of Democratic candidates took swings at Bloomberg on social media, clearly advertising they would be targeting him throughout the night.
Warren said on Twitter it was too bad Bloomberg was being allowed to participate in the debate.
“But at least now primary voters curious about how each candidate will take on Donald Trump can get a live demonstration of how we each take on an egomaniac billionaire,” she added.
For his part, former Biden called Bloomberg a Republican and admonished him for insinuating that former President Barack Obama supports the former New York City mayor in advertisements.
“The fact of the matter is he didn’t endorse Barack or me when we ran. This is a guy using Barack’s pictures like, you know, they’re good buddies. I’m going to talk about his record,” Biden told reporters.
Wednesday morning, Briahna Joy Gray, the Sanders campaign’s national press secretary, went on CNN claiming Bloomberg has had multiple heart attacks, in response to criticism that Sanders had withhold additional health records.
“It’s really telling given that none of the same concern is being demonstrated for Michael Bloomberg, who’s the same age as Bernie Sanders, who has suffered heart attacks in the past,” Gray said.
While Bloomberg did have a stent inserted in 2000 — the same operation Sanders underwent following his October 2019 his heart attack — there is no evidence that Bloomberg has suffered heart failure. Later in the day, Gray apologized, saying she misspoke.
This claim comes the day after Gray made an unsubstantiated claim that Bloomberg has faced 64 sexual assault allegations — the topic that Warren would hammer him on during the debate.
