Opinion: Democrats can’t let Michael Bloomberg win the primary
Between dozens of allegations of sexual misconduct and his racist stop-and-frisk policy, he can’t be allowed the nomination.
The Democratic Primary Debate in Las Vegas, Nevada featured former NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg, who took the majority of attacks for the evening.
February 20, 2020
He’s a Manhattan businessman who became a politician. His name has become a headline — followed by racial targeting and at least several sexual-misconduct allegations.
No, I’m not referring to President Trump. I’m describing Michael Bloomberg.
The former New York mayor’s campaign unquestionably sees the presidential election as having a price tag. He’s spent hundreds of millions of dollars on advertisements alone.
But his candidacy can’t be dismissed entirely. Bloomberg qualified for Wednesday’s debate in Nevada, and his polling has become high enough for mainstream news outlets to examine his presence in this race.
Despite this, Democrats must recognize that Bloomberg is simply an embodiment of the hypocrisy within the Democratic Party. Not only does his own timeline as a billionaire resemble that of Trump, but Bloomberg’s personal abuse of power matches that of Trump.
A Bloomberg administration is not a Democrat alternative to a reelection of Trump — it would be a continuation of giving the presidency to a racist, sexist man.
Setting aside Bloomberg’s business career, his political experience conveys enough to make a judgment of his disqualifying character for this presidential run.
Before he decided to run for president as a Democrat, he was a Republican mayor of New York, serving three consecutive terms from 2001 until 2013.
A Bloomberg administration is not a Democrat alternative to a reelection of Trump — it would be a continuation of giving the presidency to a racist, sexist man.
Within those 12 years, the billionaire struggled consistently with his approval ratings. He relied entirely on his own accumulated wealth for his runs for mayor — spending over $100 million on his third campaign.
That campaign was only possible because Bloomberg had lobbied the New York City Council to so he could win a third term for mayor, something his predecessor Rudy Guilliani tried and failed to do.
So, what has he done with his political authority in the last two decades? One is the highly criticized policing tactic, stop and frisk.
During all three of Bloomberg’s mayoral terms, the city’s police detained, questioned, and searched civilians in a manner that later was ruled to be be ruled unconstitutional by a U.S. district court judge.
By the end of the third term, more than 100,000 stop-and-frisks were made in New York City in a year, according to the New York Civil Liberties Union. The vast majority of those stopped were young black or Latino men. Not only were these practices obviously racially targeted, according to the almost 70 percent of all of these stop-and-frisks were found to be baseless and citizens were found innocent of an suspected crime.
Bloomberg was interrogated by his fellow Democratic candidates on the debate stage on his role in stop-and-frisk’s extreme use.
“I’ve asked for forgiveness, but the bottom line is that we stopped too many people,” he responded flatly.
Not only has he played a part in racist law-enforcement tactics, Bloomberg also holds responsibility for several allegations of sexual misconduct by those working for his multibillion-dollar company.
These credible allegations by multiple employees reveal that his business allowed sexual harassment to thrive for decades.
A report by the Washington Post this month reveals that Bloomberg’s own CEO status was used in creating atmospheres encouraging sexually inappropriate behavior against women employees.
Even now during his presidential race, he is refusing to release women from their nondisclosure agreements that they had signed as part of settlements in these harassment lawsuits.
Examining his history of stop-and-frisk and his extensive involvement in sexual-misconduct lawsuits — all of which has avoided real consequence by advantage of his own billionaire status.
Bloomberg should not be taken seriously as a candidate by Democrat voters. His campaign is a counterfeit for a potential Democratic presidency in 2020.
Columns reflect the opinions of the authors and are not necessarily those of the Editorial Board, The Daily Iowan, or other organizations in which the author may be involved.
