Democrats put Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City in the hot seat during the Democratic presidential debate in Las Vegas on Wednesday. From his political campaigns to alleged misogynistic comments, Bloomberg drowned in the fury of the Democrats.
His rivals, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, and former Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, targeted Bloomberg’s weaknesses during the debate. The event was hosted by MSNBC and The Nevada Independent at the Paris Theater.
Warren did not mince words when she pointed out the treatment of women in Bloomberg’s company. "I want to talk about who we're running against: a billionaire who calls women fat broads and horse-faced lesbians. And no I'm not talking about Donald Trump — I'm talking about Mayor Bloomberg," Warren said. "Democrats take a huge risk if we substitute one arrogant billionaire for another."
Bloomberg did not directly explain his behavior but reiterated that his company treats harassment complaints seriously and creates an empowering workplace for women.
Warren and Biden blasted Bloomberg LP's use of nondisclosure agreements in cases in which female employees reported having experienced discrimination or harassment at the company. His response did not satisfy the other presidential candidates.
"Listen to what his defense was: 'I've been nice to some women,'" Warren said. "That doesn't cut it. The mayor has to stand on his record and we need to know what's lurking out there. He has gotten some number of women, dozens — who knows? — to sign nondisclosure agreements for sexual harassment and gender discrimination in the workplace."
Bloomberg insisted that he did not receive any personal accusation of doing anything “other than maybe they didn't like a joke I told…These were agreements between two parties who wanted to keep it quiet and that's up to them," he said. "They signed those agreements, and we'll live with it."
Stop-and-frisk
Biden criticized Bloomberg’s performance as a mayor, saying “he didn’t get a whole lot done.”
Meanwhile, Senator Amy Klobuchar lambasted the campaign statement that only Bloomberg can defeat Trump. “I don’t think you look at Donald Trump and say, ‘We need someone richer in the White House,’” she said.
Bloomberg admitted that the stop-and-frisk program, one of the signature policies of his mayoral tenure, failed and spent a few minutes apologizing about it.
Warren reacted to Bloomber’s apology: "When the mayor apologizes, listen very closely to his apology. The language he used isn't about stop-and-risk, it's about how it turned out. This isn't about how it turned out — this is about what it was designed to do. It targeted black and brown men from the beginning."
