Donald Trump now hates Michael Bloomberg because Bloomberg was mean to him
By Philip Bump, July 29, 2016
One of the more effective speeches during the Democratic convention came from former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg.
In many ways, Bloomberg is what Donald Trump wants to be: a very rich guy who runs a media company and who converted that wealth into political power. Of all of the rich New Yorkers involved in the 2016 campaign, Bloomberg is the richest, worth some $40 billion, four times what Trump says he's worth and 13 times what Bloomberg (the media company) estimates Trump is actually worth. (Hillary Clinton, by contrast, is a lowly millionaire.)
Bloomberg is an ideological centrist in a way that now seems almost quaint, and his endorsement of Clinton on Wednesday night was more an anti-endorsement of Trump. He hammered Trump, questioning his actual wealth, calling him a con man and a hypocrite, and suggesting that Clinton deserved votes because she is "sane" and "mature."
And on Thursday, as Clinton was preparing to accept her party's nomination, Trump got mad about it.
At an event in Iowa, he started talking about how he wanted to "hit" the Democratic speakers at the convention who were disparaging him. The choice of words was awkward, but it seems clear he meant it in the way he's used it throughout his campaign: To go after them with verbal or tweeted insults.
"I was going to hit one guy in particular, a very little guy," Trump said, making a clear reference to Bloomberg's stature. "I was going to hit this guy so hard his head would spin and he wouldn't know what the hell happened. He came out of nowhere!"
Trump continued to assail Bloomberg on Twitter on Friday morning, starting off with another joke about his height.
Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrumpIf Bloomberg were to run again, Trump wrote, he "wouldn't get 10% of the vote." Interestingly, a poll conducted in New York state in March showed Bloomberg beating Trump in a three-way contest with Bloomberg running as an independent. In New York City, Bloomberg got nearly twice as much support.
"Little" Michael Bloomberg, who never had the guts to run for president, knows nothing about me. His last term as Mayor was a disaster!
6:59 AM - 29 Jul 2016
As BuzzFeed's Andrew Kaczynski pointed out on Twitter, Trump's attitude on Bloomberg's final term has changed pretty substantially of late. Here's Trump tweeting about Bloomberg during the latter's final term.
Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrumpAnd shortly before he left office.
Mike Bloomberg is doing a great job as Mayor of New York City. Ray Kelly is a great Police Commissioner. @MikeBloomberg
7:17 AM - 16 Apr 2012
Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrumpAnd, of course, praising Bloomberg for giving him a project.
"@ElliotD224: @realDonaldTrump do you think Bloomberg is a good mayor?" Yes!
10:49 PM - 10 Apr 2013
Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrumpThe project in this case was a golf course in the Bronx, called Trump Golf Links at Ferry Point. Built on an old landfill, the course briefly had a problem with excessive methane output.
Credit the Bloomberg administration for having the foresight and courage to get this decades old project finished - will be BIG for NY.
8:45 PM - 26 Sep 2013
All of Trump's tweets above came before Bloomberg denounced him on television. As we've seen so many times in the past, nothing changes Trump's opinion on someone faster than their expressing a negative opinion of him.
Bloomberg has not yet been baited into tweeting a response, which no doubt comforted Clinton.
Update: ...but a former Bloomberg spokesman did.
Stu Loeser @stuloeser...................................................................................................................................................................
At very end of @MikeBloomberg term, @realDonaldTrump: "You have been a great Mayor...I mean this guy is FANTASTIC"
9:01 AM - 29 Jul 2016
No comments:
Post a Comment