During this primary season, former New York mayor and billionaire Michael Bloomerberg, who spent more than $900 million on his unsuccessful Democratic presidential nomination bid, vowed that no matter what he’d spend whatever it takes to defeat Donald Trump. In recent months, some Democrats on Twitter seemed almost bitter because Bloomberg hadn’t donated Big Bucks to help out Biden. They wanted him to put up or shut up.
Bloomberg has now put up: He’s going to spend at least $100 million to help Biden win the vital and intensely competitive state of Florida.
Former New York mayor Mike Bloomberg plans to spend at least $100 million in Florida to help elect Democrat Joe Biden, a massive late-stage infusion of cash that could reshape the presidential contest in a costly toss-up state central to President Trump’s reelection hopes.
Bloomberg made the decision to focus his final election spending on Florida last week, after news reports that Trump had considered spending as much as $100 million of his own money in the final weeks of the campaign, Bloomberg’s advisers said. Presented with several options on how to make good on an earlier promise to help elect Biden, Bloomberg decided that a narrow focus on Florida was the best use of his money.
The president’s campaign has long treated the state, which Trump now calls home, as a top priority, and his advisers remain confident in his chances given strong turnout in 2016 and 2018 that gave Republicans narrow winning margins in statewide contests.
And:
“Voting starts on Sept. 24 in Florida so the need to inject real capital in that state quickly is an urgent need,” said Bloomberg adviser Kevin Sheekey. “Mike believes that by investing in Florida it will allow campaign resources and other Democratic resources to be used in other states, in particular the state of Pennsylvania.”
The last Republican to win the White House without Florida was Calvin Coolidge in 1924, and a loss of the state’s 29 electoral votes would radically shrink Trump’s paths to reelection. With Florida in his column, Biden would be able to take the presidency by holding every state that Hillary Clinton won in 2016 and winning any one of the following states: Arizona, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and North Carolina, all of which Biden leads in current public polling averages.
“Voting starts on Sept. 24 in Florida so the need to inject real capital in that state quickly is an urgent need,” said Bloomberg adviser Kevin Sheekey. “Mike believes that by investing in Florida it will allow campaign resources and other Democratic resources to be used in other states, in particular the state of Pennsylvania.”
The last Republican to win the White House without Florida was Calvin Coolidge in 1924, and a loss of the state’s 29 electoral votes would radically shrink Trump’s paths to reelection. With Florida in his column, Biden would be able to take the presidency by holding every state that Hillary Clinton won in 2016 and winning any one of the following states: Arizona, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and North Carolina, all of which Biden leads in current public polling averages.
Trump reacted predictably on Twitter by using his name for Bloomberg: “Mini Mike.” Trump has normalized the use of elementary school name calling when talking about his opponents.
Trump doesn’t have enough cash to run his campaign because he stole all of his donors money. Now he is terrified of Bloomberg. Love to see it. Trump voters: don’t be #DonsNextCon.
— MeidasTouch.com (@MeidasTouch) September 13, 2020
The president is attacking Matt Drudge and Mike Bloomberg on Twitter. Meanwhile, more than 193,000 Americans have died from the coronavirus.
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) September 13, 2020
BOOM!! Mike Bloomberg plans to spend at least $100 million in Florida to help elect Joe Biden, a massive late-stage infusion of cash that could reshape the presidential contest in a costly toss-up state central to Trump’s reelection hopes. https://t.co/yz6HyakRL3
— Jon Cooper ?? (@joncoopertweets) September 13, 2020
Trump's hoppin' mad Mike Bloomberg just dropped a hundred million smackers to take him down in Florida.https://t.co/cQesnAu0Pr
— Tea Pain (@TeaPainUSA) September 13, 2020
Bloomberg advisers hope that his cash will help tip the state in favor of Biden, all but killing Trump’s chances to win the Electoral Collegehttps://t.co/etD91OUukz
— POLITICO (@politico) September 13, 2020
Dude, you’re so jealous of Bloomberg it’s not even funny. Mike owns horses that are worth more than your entire brand Donnie. @realDonaldTrump https://t.co/4HfoUfYvlv
— NoelCaslerComedy (@CaslerNoel) September 13, 2020
I hope Trump continues to insult Mike Bloomberg. I hope he pisses Bloomberg off so much that Bloomberg spends $100 million of his $55 Billion in every single state.
— Mrs. Krassenstein (@HKrassenstein) September 13, 2020
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.