Sen. Amy Klobuchar took jabs Sunday at a pair of politically active billionaires, calling President Trump a “multimillionaire” and arguing that when it comes to Michael Bloomberg, nobody’s saying, “Oh, we need someone richer.”
Mr. Bloomberg, the former New York City mayor, indicated last week he may enter the 2020 Democratic presidential primary over concerns that the 2020 Democratic presidential primary field isn’t “well positioned” to win, as his spokesperson put it.
Ms. Klobuchar retorted that “I have seen a lot of excitement about all our candidates” and took a shot at Mr. Bloomberg’s net worth, estimated at $53 billion.
“When people look at the White House and they see this multi-millionaire — including, by the way, independents and moderate Republicans — and now he’s messing up so many things, I don’t think they say, oh, we need someone richer,” said Ms. Klobuchar on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
Mr. Trump’s net worth is estimated at about $3 billion, although Democrats have accused him of exaggerating his wealth.
Amy Klobuchar on Mike Bloomberg entering the race: “And when people look at this white house and see this multi-millionaire … I don’t think they say, oh, we need someone richer. I don’t think that, Jake. I think you have to earn votes and not buy them.” #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/YvhIn8iTi9
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) November 10, 2019
“I think you have to earn votes and not buy them,” Ms. Klobuchar. “And I certainly welcome Mayor Bloomberg to the race. He has done incredible work on gun safety, on environmental issues and it is work of merit. But I don’t think you just waltz in and say instead of, well, I’m good enough to be president, your argument is, the other people aren’t good enough. That is not how we’ve been conducting these debates.”
If he enters the race, Mr. Bloomberg would join more than a dozen major Democratic candidates, including another billionaire, San Francisco hedge-fund manager Tom Steyer.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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