Bloomberg bid haunted by GOP skeletons

Michael Bloomberg’s debut 2020 marketing campaign ad touts that he “took charge” of New York City in the wake of 9-11.

What Bloomberg doesn’t mention: He leaned heavily on an endorsement from Rudy Giuliani, the then-New York City mayor who is now President Donald Trump’s private lawyer, to win that publish. Bloomberg trumpeted his help in TV promoting and junk mail, chastising his Democratic opponent for being “no pal of Rudy Giuliani.”

Giuliani is just one of many skeletons in Bloomberg’s partisan closet. As he pursues the Democratic nomination, he’ll need to clarify away the hundreds of thousands he’s spent putting Republicans into workplace, together with contributions backing greater than a dozen current and former Republican members of Congress.

The billionaire businessman, who has switched events several occasions throughout his political career, endorsed George W. Bush’s 2004 reelection marketing campaign, contributed to John McCain and even held a fundraiser for a House GOP member as just lately as final yr.

And that’s not all. Beneficiaries of his largess embrace former Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), a vigorous Trump defender, and Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard Shelby, who as soon as chaired the Senate Banking Committee.

Then there’s former Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) — Bloomberg endorsed and held a fundraiser for Brown towards Elizabeth Warren in 2012.

“As a Democratic candidate for president, he makes an wonderful Republican donor,” quipped Pennsylvania Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, who has not yet endorsed anybody within the main.

Though Bloomberg has also spent hundreds of thousands to help Democrats in current years, some Democratic elected officials and social gathering operatives remain bitter that he worked to defeat them up and down the ballot up to now.

Except for his contribution to Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Independence USA, an excellent PAC funded by Bloomberg, spent money to elect Republicans similar to Sen. Pat Toomey, 2012 Home candidate Andrew Roraback, and former Reps. Mike Fitzpatrick and Bob Dold.

New York Democrats are notably angered by his former GOP donations, including some in the not-so-distant past. Whereas spending about $100 million to assist Democrats flip the House and win other midterm races last yr, Bloomberg simultaneously donated to then-Rep. Dan Donovan, a Staten Island Republican, and held a fundraiser in June for Rep. Peter King, a Republican who represents elements of Long Island.

Co-hosts have been requested to gather $10,000 for King. Bloomberg also showered New York Republicans with cash when he was mayor, which helped them maintain control of the state Senate.

“The trail to win the House ran via New York: There have been seven flippable seats within the state, and he supported Republicans in two of them,” stated Monica Klein, a former marketing consultant for Liuba Grechen Shirley, King’s Democratic opponent. “To return down and say he needs to be the top of the Democratic Social gathering — the hubris is unbelievable.”

Bloomberg’s aides are presently addressing the difficulty of his past donations by highlighting that he has backed Republicans who help his priorities, akin to liberal gun policies. He has also tried to blunt criticism about spending his fortune on his own presidential bid by pledging to donate $100 million to an anti-Trump digital campaign.

“As mayor and as the country’s leading gun security champion, Mike has supported Republicans prior to now, together with Republicans who helped ship assist to New York after 9-11 or who crossed the aisle to vote for gun safety in Congress,” stated Jason Schechter, a spokesman for Bloomberg.

Gun-control groups aligned with Bloomberg have thrown their weight behind some Republican candidates as nicely, in some instances giving them much-needed bipartisan bona fides. Everytown for Gun Security, which was founded by Bloomberg, endorsed Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) in a Philadelphia-area swing district in 2018.

In 2016, Bloomberg reported spending almost $10 million to successfully re-elect Toomey in his race towards Democrat Katie McGinty. Independence USA ran TV advertisements in Philadelphia’s collar counties that drew consideration to his help of gun management laws, serving to him win over crucial average voters.

“The truth that Bloomberg was prepared to throw his money into it gave Toomey a talking point to attraction to suburban voters in Philly, and finally one of many causes we misplaced is that he outperformed Donald Trump within the Philly suburbs,” stated Mike Mikus, McGinty’s former marketing campaign manager. “I’m sure his hand in giving Mitch McConnell a majority within the Senate shall be remembered by a variety of Democratic voters.”

Bloomberg left the Republican Social gathering in 2007 and registered as an unbiased. He voted for Barack Obama in 2008, an aide stated, though he didn't publicize it on the time. He wrote an op-ed in favor of Obama in his 2012 reelection campaign, and campaigned for Hillary Clinton in 2016. In 2018, he modified his registration to Democrat.

Fetterman, who ran unsuccessfully within the 2016 Senate main, stated there isn't any urge for food for the billionaire’s candidacy amongst Pennsylvania Democrats: “Completely none that I’ve encountered.”

Over the weekend, liberal activists circulated a clip of Bloomberg talking on the 2004 Republican Nationwide Conference in help of Bush.

“I need to thank President Bush for supporting New York Metropolis and changing the Homeland Security funding formulation and for main the worldwide warfare on terrorism,” he said at the convention. “The president deserves our help. We're here to help him. And I'm right here to help him.”

Rebecca Katz, a New York-based advisor to progressive candidates, stated the video is necessary context to know Bloomberg.

“Bloomberg’s presidential marketing campaign is just telling one aspect of the story. For years, he helped the New York state GOP maintain onto their Republican majority. And whereas he’d favor Democrats keep in mind his 2016 conference speech, he also spoke at the RNC for George W. Bush in 2004,” she stated. “The one factor that’s been consistent about his social gathering affiliation is that it has all the time been about benefiting Michael Bloomberg."

Sally Goldenberg contributed to this report.

Article originally revealed on POLITICO Magazine

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