President Donald Trump and 2020 Democratic presidential hopeful Michael Bloomberg traded insults and commercials over the weekend.
The back-and-forth ramped up after reports emerged that the Democratic National Committee was removing its grassroots donation qualification rule for debates, which would allow Bloomberg to participate. Trump immediately reacted to the news by tweeting that the DNC was trying to “rig” the primary against Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) again.
Many of the ads you are watching were paid for by Mini Mike Bloomberg. He is going nowhere, just wasting his money, but he is getting the DNC to rig the election against Crazy Bernie, something they wouldn’t do for @CoryBooker and others. They are doing it to Bernie again, 2016.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 2, 2020
Trump then tweeted that “Mini Mike” was negotiating to be able to use a box or lift to stand on during the debate. Bloomberg is 5 feet 8 inches tall. In response to the barbs, Bloomberg press secretary Julie Wood released a scathing statement.
“The president is lying,” she said. “He is a pathological liar who lies about everything: his fake hair, his obesity, and his spray-on tan.”
The thinking behind this statement: Show that Bloomberg is a New Yorker who "won't back down from a tabloid style fight," @juliewood told me… https://t.co/far7ffwTBz
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) February 3, 2020
Then, shortly after Bloomberg’s response, Trump was on Fox News with Sean Hannity for his Super Bowl pre-game interview. Again, he repeated the claim that Bloomberg was trying to get a box to stand on for the debates.
“Now he wants a box for the debates to stand on,” Trump said. “OK, it’s OK, there’s nothing wrong. You can be short. Why should he get a box to stand on, OK? He wants a box for the debates. Why should he be entitled to that? Does that mean everyone else gets a box? … I would love to run against Bloomberg.”
All this culminated in the actual Super Bowl when both Trump and Bloomberg aired political ads. Trump spent roughly $11 million for two 30-second ads, though AdWeek reported that only one aired. Bloomberg aired one 60-second commercial, costing about $11 million. Trump’s commercial focused on Alice Marie Johnson, the woman he granted clemency to after being lobbied by Kim Kardashian.
Two Super Bowls ago I was sitting in a prison cell.
— Alice Marie Johnson (@AliceMarieFree) February 3, 2020
Today I am a free woman and my story was featured in a Super Bowl Ad.
I will spend the rest of my life fighting for the wrongly and unjustly convicted!
God Bless America! pic.twitter.com/CGSyk54O37
Bloomberg’s ad focused on a mother whose son was the victim of gun violence. The ad also featured statistics on the number of children who are victims of gun violence every year.
While Bloomberg’s ad spending is reportedly getting under Trump’s skin, he still has ground to cover in the polls. His campaign has focused heavily on the delegate-rich Super Tuesday and continues to gain in national polls. The RealClearPolitics average has him in fourth place behind Sanders, former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).
Trump and Bloomberg’s rivalry goes back to their time in New York City, where Bloomberg was once mayor, and it doesn’t appear to be ending anytime soon. Bloomberg has promised to spend “whatever it takes” in 2020 to beat Trump, whether it’s for his own campaign or someone else’s.