Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont mentioned in an interview launched Friday that he was stunned by how unprepared Michael R. Bloomberg appeared wit
Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont mentioned in an interview launched Friday that he was stunned by how unprepared Michael R. Bloomberg appeared within the Democratic presidential debate in Las Vegas this week, and predicted that President Trump would “chew him up and spit him out” in a general-election debate if the previous New York mayor received the nomination.
In an excerpt from the interview, recorded Thursday and set to be broadcast on CBS’s “60 Minutes” Sunday evening, the correspondent Anderson Cooper requested Mr. Sanders whether or not he was stunned by Mr. Bloomberg’s struggles to reply “some very primary, apparent questions.” Mr. Sanders, the Democratic main’s present front-runner, mentioned he was.
“If that’s what occurred in a Democratic debate,” he added, “, I — I believe it’s fairly possible that Trump will chew him up and spit him out.”
Requested whether or not he was much less anxious about Mr. Bloomberg as a rival for the nomination after his debate efficiency, Mr. Sanders turned the query round and renewed his assault on Mr. Bloomberg’s marketing campaign spending from his private fortune.
“I’m anxious about an unprecedented sum of money being spent on a marketing campaign,” Mr. Sanders mentioned. “And — , we’ve by no means seen something like this in American historical past. And I simply assume, although, that the American individuals will insurgent in opposition to this kind of oligarchic motion. We’re a democracy. One individual, one vote. Not a man price $60 billion shopping for an election.”
The blunt evaluation from Mr. Sanders was the newest withering assault Democratic rivals have aimed toward Mr. Bloomberg in current days. Although Mr. Bloomberg is just not competing within the Nevada caucuses this weekend, he has been rising in nationwide polls and spending lots of of tens of millions of {dollars} to spice up his candidacy. Regardless of having amassed no pledged delegates thus far, his marketing campaign has known as on different candidates to exit the race in order that he can run head-to-head in opposition to Mr. Sanders.
Mr. Sanders has for months accused Mr. Bloomberg of making an attempt to purchase the Democratic nomination. And on the debate on Wednesday, Mr. Bloomberg confronted sharp criticism from different rivals like Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., who highlighted the derogatory names he has known as girls, the discriminatory police ways he defended till lately and the nondisclosure agreements he reached with former staff of his firm who accused him of harassment and discrimination.
Mr. Bloomberg punched again on the debate, accusing Mr. Sanders of hypocrisy for preaching democratic socialism whereas proudly owning three homes. His marketing campaign has beforehand criticized Mr. Sanders’s marketing campaign ways, evaluating them unfavorably to these utilized by Mr. Trump. And on Thursday, Mr. Bloomberg renewed his electability argument, telling a crowd in Utah: “If we select a candidate who appeals to a small base, like Senator Sanders, will probably be a deadly error.”