Trump says he'd rather run against Bloomberg than Sanders

[JoeOtterbein]

Politico

“Sanders has real followers, whether you like them or not,” the president said.

By CAITLIN OPRYSKO

02/11/2020 06:29 PM EST

Updated: 02/11/2020 06:59 PM EST

President Donald Trump on Tuesday insisted that he’d rather run against Mike Bloomberg than Bernie Sanders in the general election this November, amplifying complaints from Democrats that the billionaire former mayor of New York was buying his way into contention in the primary field.

During a screed about Bloomberg in the Oval Office, the president ripped his recent apology about New York’s stop-and-frisk policy as “disingenuous” and called the former mayor a “lightweight.”

Despite salivating at the chance to run against a democratic socialist in the general, Trump on Tuesday expressed some sense of worry about Sanders’ devoted following, suggesting that Bloomberg’s rising support would not be as unwavering.

“Frankly, I would rather run against Bloomberg than Bernie Sanders,” he told reporters, “because Sanders has real followers, whether you like them or not, whether you agree with them or not — I happen to think it’s terrible what [Sanders] says.”

snip

more insane ranting about our f...... election at link

[Happyhippychick]

1. And he's known for his honesty so I believe it!

[MontanaMama]

9. ...

[BootinUp]

14. I do declare

that makes so much sense to me too.

[TheBlackAdder]

16. Looks like one of Trump's Three-Dimensional Chess Moves! 😂

[fleabiscuit]

2. Trump ALWAYS lies. nt

[Dream Girl]

3. Oh okay. Then Sanders it is!

[calguy]

4. I agree

I'd also rather see him run against Bloomberg rather than Sanders. You know trump always lies and he's lying this time too.

[htuttle]

5. Oh, please, don't throw me into the briar patch!

[renate]

10. My thoughts exactly! nt

[Newest Reality]

6. Notice the terminology change again...

We are talking about candidates and an "acting" pResident here. To use a term like follower changes the semantics and we should watch out for that with Trump.

HE has followers. A real President serves The People and they are not his "followers", nor should they be. That word is so not appropriate that it can only be called a Trumpism and another attempt at conditioning.

Candidates have supporters. If they are in the Senate, etc., we usually use the term constituents.

Cult leaders have followers. Religions have followers, etc.

I just can't accept that newspeak game he is playing. I caution ever seeing it, or referring to in the way he is trying to frame it, because we know what he means by using followers.

[Azathoth]

7. Like it or not, Trump has more in common with Bernie than with Bloomberg

Both he and Bernie were somewhat fringe figures who ran insurgent populist campaigns in parties that were not really their native home. Both have formed significant personal connections with a core group of activists who are fighting for a much larger cause.

Trump is undoubtedly bullshitting because he fears Bloomberg, but I think he genuinely sees something he recognizes in Bernie.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

8. Even a honest man wouldn't announce to world

Who they prefer to run against.

Yet the particular comment about having supporters or not is actually true.

[cwydro]

11. No way in hell.

He’s scared of Bloomberg.

He’d love to have Bernie.

[EndlessWire]

17. I agree.

He's worried about Bloomberg, so he's trying a little of the old "divide and conquer." He wants to sow doubt among the Dem voters.

I no longer feel bad about Bloomberg. Or Steyer. After watching many good candidates being forced out because they weren't popular enough to get good money behind them, I would really like one of these billionaires to absolutely saturate the media with adverse Trump comments. Steyer started months ago with ads against Trump, and Bloomberg has mouthed off to Trump, which I like.

My current favorite is Amy. I'm not happy that she's not in double digits yet, but I could see her as a loyal, smart, hard-working President who can tell Trump to kiss her ass. (Not that she would; just wishing someone could punch him for me.) I am impressed with her presence and articulation during debates and interviews. I picture her speaking with our allies and getting them back. She would be impressive there. She will have to fix virtually everything Trump did, but I believe she could do it.

Anyway, we all know that Trump plans to push Bernie's socialism as a reason not to vote for him. All he's got on Bloomberg is the fact that he changed his party, for which there are a lot of retorts available. Oh, and the stop and frisk mistake, for which he apologized.

Whoever we pick, we are all going to vote blue for Trump's show election. That's the plan, Stan...((50 Ways To Dump Trump))

[booley]

19. Not sure Sanderss socialism would help Trump all that much

And by Socialism what we really mean is progressivism because let us be honest here. Sanders's plans aren't really socialist.

Anyway, the reason is simply many of the things Sanders is promising now Trump promised back in 2016.
Universal health care, creating jobs in rural areas, trump promised. It is a common attack Sanders uses against Trump "Mr. President, you said you would do this but you didn't. Why did you break your promise?"

The fact is people, even in red states, like these ideas. Get them past the "Vote Republican no matter what" mentality and they will agree they would benefit from a single-payer system.

Trump knew this and exploited it. That's what con men do. They figure out what their mark needs so they cn exploit it.

But that all falls apart when that con man comes up against someone who sincerely means what he says.

[Blue_true]

12. You posted a statement by a well known liar to support Sanders. Wow!!! nt

[patricia92243]

13. he always says the opposite of what he means, so he is afraid

to run against Mighty Mike.

[Laelth]

15. And he's a lying sack o' ...

Nevermind. I intend to keep my dignity even if the Great Pumpkin has none.

-Laelth

[booley]

18. Trump sees hypocrisy as a tactic

So I don't' think he would have as much trouble with Bloomberg as many assume.

Trump can say to Bloomberg "What are doing criticizing my positions? You had these same positions not that long ago!"

Trump can point out Bloomberg's racism, his authoritarianism. Bloomberg's cozy ties to the wealthy (including Trump)

Does this make Trump a hypocrite if he did this? Of course. But name me one-time hypocrisy ever hurt Trump politically? The goal, after all, isn't to get people to vote for trump. Its to make potential Bloomberg voters so disgusted they don't vote for anyone.