CNN host Jake Tapper said he is “shocked” by a Sen. Bernie Sanders campaign aide who repeatedly spread misinformation about Michael Bloomberg’s health history.
Briahna Joy Gray, a spokeswoman for the Vermont independent, falsely claimed Bloomberg had a heart attack. Facing backlash, Gray admitted she “misspoke” and noted he underwent the same stent procedure as Sanders did after his heart attack.
But Tapper criticized Gray for not apologizing for the heart attack comment in the same week Gray admitted she “misspoke” after stating Bloomberg had 64 sexual assault allegations against him. She apologized for that remark.
“Either facts matter, or they do not. Either a campaign pushes out and tolerates smears, or it does not,” Tapper said. “We all know where President Trump and the team stand on these issues. They lie and smear. But is this now what we are supposed to expect from everyone?”
Tapper later said he was “shocked” by Gray’s lack of remorse about the Bloomberg statements in the same week, saying, “I have to say, just as somebody who covers politics, I’m really shocked to have two days in a row the same spokeswoman for the Sanders campaign — he’s the front-runner, by the way — making wild, incendiary allegations against Mike Bloomberg and then responding the way they did.”
Bloomberg and Sanders will square off on the debate stage on Wednesday night for the first time. Sanders leads in national polls and is a close second to Pete Buttigieg in the number of delegates won after the Iowa and New Hampshire contests, but Bloomberg has quickly climbed in recent polls despite not competing in those early states.
