>>> LAST NIGHT, AFTER THE DEBATE, SENATOR BERNIE SANDERS’
CAMPAIGN MANAGER WAS ASKED IF HE
WOULD TAKE MICHAEL BLOOMBERG’S
MONEY IN THE GENERAL ELECTION
AND HE SAID, QUOTE, IT’S A HARD
NO.
NO. BERNIE HAS SAID HE IS GOING TO
FUND HIS CAMPAIGN WITH
SMALL-DOLLAR CONTRIBUTIONS AND I
THINK WE CAN DO THAT.
LAST MONTH, BLOOMBERG PLEDGED HE
WOULD USE HIS VAST WEALTH TO
HELP FUND WHOEVER WINS THE
DEMOCRATIC NOMINATION.
DEMOCRATIC NOMINATION. NOW, SANDERS’ CAMPAIGN SAID THEY
ARE NOT INTERESTED, BLOOMBERG’S
CAMP TELLS NBC NEWS THAT IS FINE
WITH THEM.
WITH THEM. QUOTE, I DON’T THINK IT WOULD BE
PRUDENT TO SPEND ON THE SOMEBODY
WHO DID NOT WANT IT.
THE RESPONSE RAISES A QUESTION
ABOUT THE MEANS AND ENDS HERE.
THE BATTLE BETWEEN BILLION
PASSION AND DEMOCRATIC
SOCIALISM, WHICH IS JUST ONE OF
THE MAIN STORIES OF THE 2020
PRIMARY.
PRIMARY. HERE TO TALK ABOUT THIS IS
EDITOR AT LARGE OF TIME
MAGAZINE.
MAGAZINE. AUTHOR OF THE BOOK "WINNERS TAKE
ALL."
ALL." I THINK THIS QUESTION IS AN
INTERESTING ONE, ACTUALLY.
AND I AM NOT CLEAR WHAT THE
CORRECT ANSWER IS.
I KIND OF UNDERSTAND FROM THE
SANDERS CAMPAIGN, PARTICULARLY
IN THE PRIMARY, IT WOULD LOOK
KIND OF TERRIBLE FOR THE BRAND
OF BERNIE SANDERS.
BUT I’M ALSO NOT CLEAR THAT’S
THE CORRECT ANSWER IN A SORT OF
OPTIMAL SENSE.
OPTIMAL SENSE. >> YOU KNOW, I THINK YOU HAVE
TO -- IT -- IT ALL COMES DOWN,
AS WE HAVE HEARD AGAIN AND AGAIN
TO THIS QUESTION OF WHETHER YOU
THINK TRUMP IS SYMPTOM OR
DISEASE, RIGHT?
DISEASE, RIGHT? AND I THINK IF YOU THINK HE’S
THIS ABERRATION AND HE’S THE
ENTIRETY OF THE PROBLEM, THEN,
YEAH, YOU MIGHT EMBRACE ANY
MEANS NECESSARY TO GET RID OF
HIM.
HIM. IF YOU THINK OUR PROBLEM IS
OLIGARCHY, IF YOU THINK OUR
PROBLEM IS PEOPLE LIKE DONALD
TRUMP HAVING TOO MUCH POWER IN
AMERICAN LIFE, IN A BUNCH OF
DIFFERENT WAYS, AND HE IS ONE OF
THE PEOPLE WHO KIND OF SLIPPED
INTO A PARTICULARLY LUCKY
POSITION FOR HIM.
THEN YOU DON’T WANT TO FIGHT,
YOU KNOW, FIRE WITH FIRE.
AND I THINK I’M SYMPATHETIC TO
THE VIEW THAT YOU DON’T FIGHT A
RACIST, SEXIST OLIGARCH, WHO
CANNOT READ, WITH A RACIST,
SEXIST OLIGARCH WHO CAN READ AND
IS VERY SMART.
YOU KNOW, I JUST DON’T THINK
THAT ACTUALLY WORKS.
AND I THINK THE QUESTION FOR ALL
OF US IN THIS CAMPAIGN IS, IS
THERE A WAY -- BECAUSE YOU’RE
RIGHT.
RIGHT. IT IS A MORAL DILEMMA BECAUSE
MAYBE YOU’RE NOT GOING TO
REGISTER ENOUGH VOTERS IF YOU
DON’T HAVE THAT MONEY.
MONEY HELPS.
MONEY HELPS. >> THERE IS A LOT OF THINGS YOU
COULD DO WITH A BILLION DOLLARS
IN TEXAS.
IN TEXAS. >> OF COURSE.
BUT PART OF THE EXCITEMENT OF
THE SANDERS CAMPAIGN, BUT I
WOULD ALSO SAY THE WARREN
CAMPAIGN, IS THE STRENGTH OF THE
MESSAGE THAT THEY ARE SOMETHING
NOT OF THIS POLITICOCRATIC AGE.
COMPROMISES THE CENTRAL
EMOTIONAL POLL OF THE CAMPAIGN.
>> I HAVE TO SAY SINCE THE
BLOOMBERG CAMPAIGN’S NOT HERE TO
DEFEND THEMSELVES, THEY WOULD
OBVIOUSLY STRENUOUSLY DENY THAT
HE IS A RACIST AND A SEXIST.
I WANT TO SAY THAT ON THEIR
BEHALF.
BEHALF. >> I WOULD STOP-AND-FRISK THEM
TO CHECK.
TO CHECK. >> YEAH.
>> YEAH. >> THE THING ABOUT BLOOMBERG
THAT’S BEEN REALLY INTERESTING
TO WATCH HERE, HE HAD A REALLY
COMPLICATED TENURE HERE IN NEW
YORK CITY.
YORK CITY. HE WAS MAYOR FOR PART OF THE
TIME.
TIME. HE IS A COMPLICATED FIGURE IN
MANY WAYS.
MANY WAYS. WHEN YOU SAY HE IS SMART, THERE
WERE TREMENDOUSLY AND INCREDIBLE
PEOPLE IN THAT ADMINISTRATION
WHO DID REALLY REMARKABLE
THINGS.
THINGS. IN NEW YORK CITY.
BUT IT WAS ALWAYS THIS OPEN
QUESTION TO ME OF BASICALLY LIKE
THE -- THE VALUE PROPOSITION OF
MICHAEL BLOOMBERG WAS KIND OF
LIKE, WHAT IF WE COULD HAVE OUR
OWN BILLIONAIRE?
OWN BILLIONAIRE? I MEAN, PEOPLE WOULD SAY THIS TO
ME.
ME. WHAT IF WE COULD TAKE ON TRUMP
WITH SOMEONE WHO CAN SPEND
UNLIMITED MEANS?
UNLIMITED MEANS? WHAT IF WE CAN TAKE ON TRUMP,
WHO ALSO DIDN’T KIND OF GIVE A
HECK?
HECK? IN AN ALMOST KIND OF TRUMPIAN
WAY.
WAY. I THINK IN AN UNDERSTANDABLE
FASHION, THAT HAS BEEN,
CONTINUES TO BE, A VERY ALLURING
IDEA TO PEOPLE.
>> AND AGAIN, IT IS POSSIBLE TO
FIGHT TRUMPISM IN A WAY THAT
DEEPENS THE WHOLE OF TRUMPISM.
>> AND YOU THINK BLOOMBERG
REPRESENTS THAT.
REPRESENTS THAT. >> YES, BECAUSE THE -- THE --
SOME TOTAL OF TRUMPISM ISN’T
THIS PARTICULAR GUY WHO IS SO
THAT
THAT MALEVOLENT AND HATEFUL.
THAT’S ONE EXPRESSION A MUCH
DEEPER TENDENCY HAS TAKEN.
RIGHT?
RIGHT? IF YOU THINK ABOUT SETTING A
PRECEDENT OR ANYONE WITH A FEW
BILLION DOLLARS.
BILLION DOLLARS. WE ACTUALLY HAVE SEVERAL PEOPLE.
MANY, MANY PEOPLE WHO CAN AFFORD
TO DO WHAT BLOOMBERG’S DOING.
HE CAN AFFORD IT MORE THAN
OTHERS.
OTHERS. DOES EVERY PERSON WHO HAS THAT
MONEY WANT TO DO THAT?
AND AS YOU CAN SEE, YOU KNOW,
I’VE DESCRIBED IT BEFORE.
I WAS LOOKING AT HIS -- HIS
CHARISMA LAST NIGHT.
BLOOMBERG’S.
BLOOMBERG’S. AND IT REALLY FEELS -- LIKE I
DESCRIBED IT THIS MORNING LIKE
IT’S LIKE A LARGE PIECE OF
CHEESE THAT ATE A ROBOT.
LIKE, IT’S JUST THE COMPLETE
LACK OF ABILITY TO CONNECT.
BOTH IN A PERFORMATIVE,
CHARISMATIC WAY.
CHARISMATIC WAY. BUT ALSO IN AN INBOUND WAY,
RIGHT?
RIGHT? LIKE, IT’S SOMEONE WHO HASN’T
TAKEN INFORMATION IN FROM PEOPLE
IN A REALLY LONG TIME.
AND THAT’S BECAUSE -- AND I HAVE
DONE REPORTING ON THESE
PEOPLE -- PART OF BEING A
BILLIONAIRE, NO ONE TELLS YOU
THE TRUTH AFTER A PRETTY EARLY
STAGE IN YOUR LIFE.
>> WHICH IS THAT HE IS NOT A,
QUOTE, TYPICAL POLITICIAN.
AND WHEN HE WAS IN NEW YORK,
PART OF WHAT HE WAS ABLE TO DO
BECAUSE OF HIS MONEY WAS TO KIND
OF NOT DO THE TRUCK AND BARTER
AND ALL THE GLAD HANDING YOU
HAVE TO DO AS A POLITICIAN IN
NEW YORK.
NEW YORK. HE JUST HAS COME TO POLITICS IN
A TOTALLY DIFFERENT WAY, WHICH I
WILL SAY SOME PEOPLE LIKE
PRECISELY THAT.
PRECISELY THAT. RIGHT?
RIGHT? THAT WAS THE DONALD TRUMP SELL
TO HIS ELECTORATE WAS NO ONE
OWNS ME BECAUSE I OWN EVERYONE.
>> CORRECT.
>> CORRECT. EXACTLY.
EXACTLY. AND SO HE DID DO GLAD HANDING OF
A DIFFERENT KIND.
OF A BILLIONAIRE KIND, RIGHT?
I USED TO WONDER THIS IN THAT
ERA OF NEW YORK, RIGHT, YOU
WOULD HAVE THE ARTS.
YOU GO TO THE BALLET AND IT
WOULD BE FUNDED NOT BY THE CITY
BUT BY BLOOMBERG PHILANTHROPIES
WHEN HE WAS THE MAYOR.
AND WHAT IT NOW APPEARS HE WAS
DOING WAS BUYING PEOPLE, BUYING
NONPROFITS, BUYING PEOPLE WHO
FIGHT FOR THE MOST VULNERABLE
PEOPLE, WHO MIGHT BE HIS BIGGEST
OPPONENTS, AND ARE NOW SILENT OR
SUPPORTIVE OF HIM.
>> THERE IS A SORT OF ONGOING
QUESTION ABOUT I’M VERY CURIOUS
TO SEE WHAT HE DOES NEXT IN
TERMS OF HIS DURABILITY IN THIS
ELECTORATE.
ELECTORATE. PARTICULARLY, IN THE WAKE OF HIM