Mike Bloomberg just destroyed Donald Trump
Because Mike Bloomberg hasn’t actually appeared on the ballot anywhere yet, and because there are so many other unusual aspects to his campaign, it’s difficult to gauge yet whether he has a shot at the Democratic nomination or not. What is easy to gauge is the extent to which his campaign, and his television ads, are getting under Donald Trump’s skin.
This morning Donald Trump launched a bizarre attack against Mike Bloomberg on Twitter, misstating Bloomberg’s height, and trying to create controversy between Bloomberg and Bernie Sanders. This is an odd strategy on Trump’s part, considering Bloomberg has already publicly promised that if he’s not the Democratic nominee, he’ll run general election TV ads in support of the nominee. Bloomberg wasn’t having any of it, and fired back accordingly:
.@realDonaldTrump – we know many of the same people in NY. Behind your back they laugh at you & call you a carnival barking clown. They know you inherited a fortune & squandered it with stupid deals and incompetence.
I have the record & the resources to defeat you. And I will. https://t.co/fO4azmZaUg
— Mike Bloomberg (@MikeBloomberg) February 13, 2020
This prompted the phrase “carnival barking clown” to appear on the Twitter trending topics list. Now more than ever it’s clear that Donald Trump is obsessed with Mike Bloomberg. Perhaps it’s because Bloomberg is an actual billionaire, unlike Trump, or that Bloomberg is popular in Trump’s hometown of New York City, or that Bloomberg is planning to fund general election ads against Trump. But as long as Trump is busy attacking Bloomberg, he’s not spending as much time attacking the other Democratic candidates who probably have a better shot at the nomination.
Bill Palmer is the publisher of the political news outlet Palmer Report