Former presidential candidate Andrew Yang said Michael Bloomberg’s data operation is “leaps and bounds” ahead of anything the Democratic Party has at its disposal.
The entrepreneur, who has received rave reviews since joining CNN as a commentator after ending his presidential bid last week, told a Bloomberg “story” about the power of his personal wealth as the network covered former Vice President Joe Biden’s victory in the South Carolina primary on Saturday.
“I had coffee with a marketing staffer from my campaign, and I was concerned what are you going to do next. And he said, ‘Don’t worry about it. I’m working at the Bloomberg campaign, and they’re paying me two and a half times what I got paid here,'” Yang told his fellow CNN panelists.
“They have this massive operation that is leaps and bounds ahead of anything the DNC is employing in terms of data and resources,” he continued.
Taking into account how deep pockets didn’t adequately help billionaire Tom Steyer, who dropped from the race Saturday evening, Yang made the case that Bloomberg’s “digital war room” is what sets the former New York City mayor apart from the rest.
“They’ve got this incredible data projection down to the district, down to the delegate, and they’re mapping it and simulating it,” he said, before describing how Bloomberg’s long game may be focused on targeting and taking out opponents individually.
Only when Bloomberg has a “clear picture from the data that he’s not going to be contributing, he’ll be out,” Yang concluded.
David Axelrod, who worked as a chief strategist for former President Barack Obama’s two presidential campaigns, said Yang’s story confirmed what he has heard about Bloomberg. More specifically, that Bloomberg’s team is working to hamper the campaign of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who was the front-runner heading into Saturday’s contest.
“What they are saying tonight is that their analytics suggest that the project of stopping Bernie Sanders or slowing him down would be better served by him being in for this round than out,” Axelrod said. “That may have changed because of how Biden performed tonight. But that is what that big war room is suggesting right now.”
Bloomberg, who skipped the early voting states to bank on Super Tuesday, has the most expansive ad budget of any of the candidates seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, flooding the zone with commercials attacking Trump and promising to defeat him in the November general election at a price tag of over $500 million.
Earlier in the evening, Yang said Bloomberg made a “really crucial mistake” by not competing in South Carolina, leaving Biden to run away with the contest and the momentum heading into Super Tuesday.
