Warren shreds Bloomberg’s ‘history with women’ after calling nondisclosure agreement releases ‘not good enough’

“He has a history now of harassing women and of gender discrimination,” Warren said in her speech. “So let’s think about that, billionaire who hides his taxes, has a bad history with women, and defends racist policies. Let me just put it this way: we’re not substituting one arrogant billionaire for another in 2020.”

The Massachusetts senator’s latest remarks came after she responded Friday to reports that Bloomberg is willing to release any woman who requests to be free from their nondisclosure agreements.

“That’s just not good enough. Michael Bloomberg needs to do a blanket release so that all women who have been muzzled by nondisclosure agreements can step up and tell their side of the story,” Warren said on the campaign trail, criticizing Bloomberg for “selectively” deciding what information is released to the public.

“Yesterday, I put out a blanket nondisclosure agreement that the mayor can use. All he has to do is download it, sign it, and then anyone can step up and tell the truth,” she added.

Reporters then pressed Warren on her response, saying that Bloomberg only identified three women involving comments he supposedly made and expressed willingness to release all of them from their agreements.

“If there are only three, then why didn’t he sign a blanket release?” she said. “If he’s limiting the number, then you can’t know whether there are three, or thirty, or three hundred. And that should not be within the control of Michael Bloomberg.”

In a statement released on Friday, Bloomberg said, “I recognize that NDAs, particularly when they are used in the context of sexual harassment and sexual assault, promote a culture of silence in the workplace and contribute to a culture of women not feeling safe or supported. It is imperative that when problems occur, workplaces not only address the specific incidents, but the culture and practices that led to those incidents. And then leaders must act.”

Additionally, the former New York City Mayor said he is committing to “review and reform our policies where necessary with regard to equal pay and promotion, sexual harassment and discrimination, and other legal tools that prevent culture change.”

Warren ridiculed Bloomberg in the Nevada Democratic debate on Wednesday for the agreements.

“He has gotten some number of women … to sign nondisclosure agreements both for sexual harassment and for gender discrimination in the workplace. So Mr. Mayor, are you willing to release all of those women from those nondisclosure agreements so we can hear their side of the story,” Warren said at the time.

Bloomberg acknowledged the presence of the NDAs but dismissed the accusation of sexual misconduct against him at the time. When Warren further pressed him on how many of the agreements exist, he was unable to answer.

“The company and somebody else, in this case a man or a woman … they decided when they made an agreement that they wanted to keep it quiet for everybody’s interest. They signed the agreements, and that’s what we’re going to live with,” said Bloomberg before later reversing his statement.

Since their altercation, Warren has seen increased support for her campaign, jumping to second place in the latest CBS national poll. In the poll, Sanders holds first with 28%, and Warren clocks in after him with 19%. The survey was conducted from Feb. 20-22 and polled 10,000 likely Democratic and independent voters. The margin of error for the entire sample is 1.2 percentage points.