Former New York Mayor and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg said Thursday that President Trump failed the biggest leadership test of his first term in office and has made the coronavirus pandemic “much worse.”
“When confronted with the biggest calamity any president has faced in the modern era, Donald Trump spent the year downplaying the threat, ignoring science and recommending quack cures, which led COVID-19 to spread much faster than it should have,” Mr. Bloomberg said on the final night of the Democratic National Convention.
Mr. Bloomberg, whose net worth is north of $50 billion, also said Mr. Trump is a failed businessman who drove his companies into bankruptcy six times.
He said Democratic presidential nominee Joseph R. Biden would reverse the GOP tax cuts, fight climate change, and push a real infrastructure plan.
Mr. Trump quickly responded in real time.
“After the worst debate performance in the history of politics, Michael Bloomberg, commonly known as Mini Mike, is trying to make a comeback by begging the Democrats for relevance. They treated him like a dog - and always will. Before politics, he said GREAT things about me!” the president said on Twitter.
Mr. Trump mocked Mr. Bloomberg’s height at this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference by crouching behind his microphone during a speech to imitate him, saying he got knocked on his heels by Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts at one of the Democratic debates.
Mr. Trump had repeatedly suggested that Mr. Bloomberg wanted to bring a box to the debate stage to stand on, which the former mayor’s team denied.
Mr. Bloomberg ended up dropping a billion dollars on a campaign that saw him drop out after Super Tuesday in early March.
Since ending his campaign, he has committed or spent more than $100 million in additional money on Democratic party causes.
Mr. Bloomberg entered the presidential race in November at a time when there wasn’t necessarily a clear front-runner and when it appeared that Sen. Bernard Sanders of Vermont might be picking up steam.
He was quickly put on the defensive over the “stop-and-frisk” policing policies he championed as mayor of New York and non-disclosure agreements a number of former female employees in his business empire had signed.
Under pressure from Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and others, Mr. Bloomberg eventually said his company would release a limited number of women from the agreements.
Mr. Trump mocked Mr. Bloomberg’s height at this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference by crouching behind his microphone during a speech to imitate him.
Mr. Trump had repeatedly suggested that Mr. Bloomberg wanted to bring a box to the debate stage to stand on, which the former mayor’s team denied.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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