WaPo: Bloomberg gets under Trump's skin as he ramps up spending on 2020 ads

[Mike 03]

Last edited Fri Jan 24, 2020, 10:38 AM - Edit history (1)

Trump’s advisers have repeatedly encouraged the president to focus on other opponents instead. Campaign manager Brad Parscale and senior adviser Jared Kushner have warned against giving Bloomberg more attention and do not see him as the threat that Trump does, aides have said. There is no plan for the campaign to target him with advertisements at this point, advisers said.

Trump has repeatedly brought up Bloomberg — calling him “evil,” in the words of one close adviser — and said that he wants to destroy Trump with unrelenting money, even if the president does not believe Bloomberg can win, according to aides.

He has called Bloomberg’s ads “lies” that are unfair depictions of his record in the White House. Several advisers have said the president also references Bloomberg’s 2016 Democratic convention speech as a sore point and repeatedly asks advisers about his polling numbers, which have hovered below 10 percent in public surveys.

Snip

Bloomberg seems to have approached the endeavor as a no-risk proposition, given that he has decided that defeating someone he calls an “existential threat to our country” is one of his top priorities.

“My Plan B is a hell of a lot better than anybody else’s Plan A,” he has told advisers, according to one aide, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations.

Either Bloomberg wins the nomination and the presidency or he remains the 12th-richest person in the world with a chance of taking credit for defeating Trump.

On the stump, Bloomberg seems to delight in needling Trump, calling him a “real estate promoter” and not a businessman. He will recount the phone call from Trump after the 2016 election, when the president-elect offered his cellphone number. Bloomberg says he didn’t bother to write it down.

Bloomberg also repeats an anecdote about Trump not knowing how to use a New York City subway card when they rode together many years ago. Trump has said this description is untrue, saying the gates were opened for them because they were traveling with a large entourage.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/bloomberg-gets-under-trumps-skin-as-he-ramps-up-spending-on-2020-ads/2020/01/23/f56f400a-3e17-11ea-8872-5df698785a4e_story.html


Bloomberg is getting inside Trump's head like President Obama has, only it will be far worse. The cumulative impact of Bloomberg's strategic attacks on Trump's deluded self-concept will be interesting to see. By virtue of his position in society, he's in a unique position to damage Trump in ways other candidates are not. It's deeply personal to Trump. Bloomberg is an existential threat to Donald Trump, even if he doesn't get the nomination. (Disclosure: I am not supporting Bloomberg for president).

[spooky3]

1. I am very glad he's doing this. I think he genuinely

Believes our democracy is at stake if Dems don’t win this fall and is willing to do anything it takes to stop Trump.

[katmondoo]

2. Happy to have Bloomberg on our side.

[patricia92243]

3. Trump's jealousy of Bloomberg makes his jealousy of Obama

look like child's play. Bloomberg is the real thing and what Trump pretends to be.