Billionaire Michael Bloomberg became the main target of other candidates for the Democratic primaries, including those seeking to rally moderate voters, before a crucial week for the appointment of Donald Trump’s future opponent.
The former mayor of New York, placed third nationally in the average polls, behind former vice president Joe Biden and socialist senator Bernie Sanders, has in particular recorded in recent days a growing support among the black population .
Some “60 billion dollars can buy you a lot of publicity, but that cannot erase your balance sheet,” tackled Joe Biden on NBC on Sunday, reproaching him in particular for not having supported the candidacy of Barack Obama in 2008.
The former number two of the first black president of the United States has something to worry about within a week of the third primary vote in the state of Nevada. Popular among blacks and Latinos, Mr. Biden would be the first to suffer from a report on Michael Bloomberg of the support of minorities, crucial to win the Democratic nomination for the presidential election in November.
Another difficulty, the two septuagenarians share the centrist corridor with two other candidates: the former mayor Pete Buttigieg, who won by a hair Iowa, the first State to have voted in the framework of the primaries, and the senator Amy Klobuchar, which made a big impression when it came third in New Hampshire.
This dispersion plays against them against a left wing that seems to rally around Bernie Sanders.
On Sunday, Mr. Biden also criticized Mr. Bloomberg for having long defended the policy of arbitrary arrests and searches (“stop-and-frisk”), accused of having caused an explosion of facies controls in New York.
The ninth richest man in the world according to Forbes reiterated his apologies on Thursday for this practice, which he admitted that it had led to the arrest of “too many innocent people”, including “an immense majority” of blacks or Latinos.
“Take Carter or Clinton or Barack, they had massive support from African Americans,” said Biden. “I’m the only one who has (…) their support. They know me. They know who I am.”
After two very disappointing results in Iowa and New Hampshire, Mr. Biden is counting precisely on their vote to relaunch his campaign, notably in South Carolina, a much more diverse state, on February 29.
Paradoxically, if the attacks focus on him, Mr. Bloomberg will not be competing in either South Carolina or Nevada on Saturday. Leaving these States little provided with delegates, he bet on an entry in the race which he hopes shattering during “Super Tuesday” on March 3. Then vote 14 states at once, including Texas and California, which elect the largest number of delegates – who will ultimately nominate the Democratic candidate in July.
By his late start, which he had justified by his fears that the moderates could not win with Joe Biden, Mr. Bloomberg has not yet participated in any televised debate – and will not be part of it either next Wednesday in Las Vegas.
“You cannot hide behind the television waves” campaign spots paid for with his personal fortune, accused moderate Amy Klobuchar on CNN. “I know I can’t beat him on the air, but I can beat him on the podium,” said the candidate, who is struggling to make a name for herself outside of her original MidWest.
Pete Buttigieg, 38, also struggled for third place in Nevada polls (behind Messrs. Sanders and Biden), also criticized the “billions of dollars” for the former New York mayor to surge in. American channels.
Asked about Bloomberg’s policy towards blacks, as well as allegations of sexism brought to the table by a long Washington Post investigation on Saturday, the young Buttigieg did not hesitate to attack: “I think that he will have to answer for it, “he said on Fox News.
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