Senator Elizabeth Warren didn’t waste time getting down to the issue bugging her the most at the February 19 Democratic debate: Michael Bloomberg. The Las Vegas debate is the first for the former New York City mayor, 78, and it was very clear from the get-go that none of the other candidates were happy to see him. “I’d like to talk about who we’re running against — a billionaire who calls women fat broads and horse-faced lesbians,” Warren, 70, said in her opening statement. “No, I’m not talking about Donald Trump. I’m talking about Michael Bloomberg,” she said to gasps and cheers.
Bloomberg, who is worth an estimated $60 billion, has self-funded his presidential campaign, leading to criticism that he’s buying the election. The former mayor, who was registered as a Republican until 2007, and an Independent until 2018, hasn’t qualified for the first two primaries, or the last eight Democratic debates. Bloomberg has also been accused of making horrifyingly misogynistic comments, as Warren noted. That includes claims from the 1990s that Bloomberg told a group of female employees to “line up” to give a male colleague a “[sex act] as a wedding present.”
“I’ll support whoever the Democratic nominee is, but understand this: Democrats take a huge risk if we just substitute one arrogant billionaire for another,” Warren concluded. She wasn’t the only candidate to go after Bloomberg in the first 10 minutes of the debate. This country has worked for the rich for a long time and left everyone else in the dirt.”
Warren came out SWINGING at Bloomberg pic.twitter.com/3D8bnvvm4m
— Pod Save America (@PodSaveAmerica) February 20, 2020
Warren went after other candidates for their (lack of) healthcare coverage policies, saying that Senator Amy Klobuchar‘s plan is “on a post-it note.” She called Mayor Pete Buttigieg‘s plan a “slogan thought up by his consultants.” She wasn’t holding back during this debate — and this all happened in the first 20 minutes of a two-hour event. Later, she went after Bloomberg for his alleged misogynistic behavior in-depth. She again compared him to President Trump, saying, “We are not going to beat Donald Trump with a man who has who knows how many non-disclosure agreements.”
Whoever you’re supporting in the 2020 presidential election, whether it’s Warren or Bloomberg or someone else entirely, it’s important that you vote. If you haven’t already registered to vote, you can do that here: