Wednesday, February 19,2020 is the first time former New York City Mayor and billionaire Michael Bloomberg appeared on the Democratic debate stage. His Democratic street cred is in question, as he ran for and won the New York City mayorship as a Republican. He also ran the controversial and arguably racist “Stop and Frisk” policy, which targeted minority neighborhoods. NBC News anchors who moderated the debate brought up the racist language Bloomberg once used to defend the policy, and his opponents pounced. While Bloomberg defended himself and apologized, his fellow candidates said that it is nowhere near enough. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) said:
“This isn’t about how it turned out. This is about what it was designed to do to begin with,” It targeted black and brown men. … You need a different apology here.”
Senator Warren went on to imply that Bloomberg is a racist and a sexist, and even compared him to Trump:
“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.Democrats will not win if we have a nominee with a history … of harassing women and supporting racist policies like redlining and stop and frisk. … Democrats take a huge risk if we substitute one arrogant billionaire for another.”
Former Vice President Joe Biden called the policy “abhorrent,” and said it was only abolished after the Obama Administration went into New York City and put a stop to it.
Featured image via Flickr
