Michael Bloomberg Tackles Gun Violence in Super Bowl Campaign Commercial

Democratic presidential hopeful Michael Bloomberg will make addressing gun violence in the United States the focus of his 60-second commercial that will air during Sunday's Super Bowl, the campaign said on Thursday.

The billionaire former New York mayor, a late entrant into the race for the Democratic nomination, will face off against President Donald Trump, who will also have a campaign commercial during the game. Both candidates are spending up to $11 million each to reach nearly 100 million viewers expected to tune in for the National Football League championship game in Miami.

A 30-second spot in this year's Super Bowl sold for up to $5.6 million, according to Fox Corp, which will air the game.

The Trump campaign has not revealed details of its commercial, but has said on Twitter it will first release the ad to supporters who send a text to the campaign.

"People will be rooting for different teams in the Super Bowl, but virtually all Americans - including people in both parties and a majority of gun owners - support universal background checks and other common sense gun laws," Bloomberg said in a statement.

The commercial features gun violence activist Calandrian Simpson Kemp, whose son George grew up playing football and was shot and killed in 2013 when he was 20 years old.

"Lives are being lost every day. It is a national crisis," she says in the commercial released on Thursday. "I know Mike is not afraid of the gun lobby."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Yp0yN8UxVg&feature=youtu.be

The ad will air shortly after the halftime show during the game that pits the Kansas City Chiefs against the San Francisco 49ers.

Bloomberg chose to focus on gun violence because of his long history of work on the issue, and because "it's an issue that the vast majority of Americans agree on," Julie Wood, national press secretary for the Bloomberg campaign, said in an interview. She added that 90% of Americans support universal background checks.

(Reporting by Sheila Dang; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Bill Berkrot)