HOUSTON — Michael Bloomberg can’t let his gripe with Elizabeth Warren go.
“We need someone who’s ready to be commander in chief, not the college debater in chief,” Bloomberg told a Thursday “get out the vote” rally in Houston, his first of three stops in Texas.
The billionaire former New York City mayor and Warren, the Massachusetts senator who was accepted at George Washington University in the 1960s on a debating scholarship, have long clashed over her desire to crack down on Wall Street and introduce other financial sector regulations.
But the pair’s bitter rivalry, exacerbated by his endorsement of and financial investment in her 2012 Republican Senate opponent Scott Brown, was laid bare during his first two debate appearances in Nevada and South Carolina. Bloomberg has been scrutinized for his performances, particularly regarding his responses to questions over nondisclosure agreements he signed over the past 30 years with at least three women who complained they experienced sexism while working for Bloomberg LP.
“I’m not someone who just yells slogans, even if they’re not true. That’s what they did, the two of them, last debate,” the philanthropist said, referring to Warren and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, her ideological ally and the 2020 Democratic presidential front-runner.
Bloomberg’s event at The Rustic in Houston was a small but diverse affair, held five days before Super Tuesday, his first contest. The information services entrepreneur spoke with a teleprompter for a little more than 15 minutes on a stage usually reserved for live music acts. Guests were able to mingle for an hour or so beforehand over coffee and breakfast in a venue with ample seating and a relaxed vibe.
Bloomberg has made four trips to Houston since announcing his candidacy last November, one of roughly 20 outposts comprising 180 field organizers across Texas, a state where early voting has already begun. Texas offers contenders vying to become their party’s standard-bearer 228 delegates.
“We need Clutch City to come through,” he said of Houston, calling the metropolitan center his “home away from home” because the “combination of rodeo and Lizzo is pretty tempting and because he “couldn’t wait that long for another box of Shipley’s.”
As Super Tuesday nears on March 3, Bloomberg has become more bold about alluding to his biggest draw to most Democrats considering him as their hopeful: his deep pockets.
“If you want somebody who has the resources to beat Trump, that’s me,” he said after surpassing a $500 million advertising spending commitment this week. “If you think this campaign is expensive, just imagine what four more years with Donald Trump would cost us.”
Though no stranger to criticizing President Trump, Bloomberg ripped the White House incumbent for his slow response to the coronavirus pandemic.
“The fact is President Trump was briefed on coronavirus two months ago, but he buried his head in the sand. And his failure to prepare is crippling our ability to respond now that it’s at our doorstep,” he said. “He’s not leading. He’s reacting — and much, much too late.”
