Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) ripped into former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s first debate performance, which was widely panned as a “disaster.”
In an excerpt from an interview with CBS News’ “60 Minutes” set to air on Sunday, Sanders was asked if he was “surprised” by how unprepared Bloomberg seemed in the debate.
“Yes, I was. I was. And– and– and, you know– and if that’s what happened in a Democratic debate, you know, I– I think it’s quite likely that Trump will chew him up and spit him out.”
Additionally, Sanders said he was “worried” about the amount of money that Bloomberg has spent on the campaign so far. Sanders described Bloomberg’s campaign as an “oligarchic movement.”
“I am worried about an unprecedented amount of money being spent on a campaign. And– you know, we’ve never seen anything like this in American history. And I just think though that the American people will rebel against this type of oligarchic movement. We are a democracy. One person, one vote. Not a guy worth $60 billion buying an election.”
Watch the video below:
Sanders’ comments come after Bloomberg has been criticized for appearing to be unprepared to answer questions about his record and a series of past controversial comments that have surfaced in recent days.
Before the debate, Bloomberg was rising in the polls as some Democrats began to see him as a viable, moderate alternative to Sanders after former Vice President Joe Biden faltered during the first two primary contests.
Just hours before that debate, it was reported that an internal memo from the Bloomberg’s campaign warned that unless the other candidates dropped out, Sanders would develop an insurmountable lead in the delegate count and win the nomination.
But Bloomberg’s debate performance raised questions about the strength of his candidacy. Although not everyone was convinced the debate would have a catastrophic impact on Bloomberg’s campaign, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) suggested that Bloomberg would spend millions of dollars on advertisements to counter the negative narrative coming out of the debate.
However, Bloomberg’s campaign manager dismissed his debate performance, “He was just warming up last night.”