Politics

Bloomberg on his liberal advocacy: ‘I’ve earned my place in heaven — it’s not even close’

Jamie Weinstein Senior Writer
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Say what you will about former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, but don’t you dare accuse of him of being modest.

The New York Times reported Tuesday that Bloomberg plans to spend $50 million of his estimated $31 billion fortune this year to combat the National Rifle Association. Speaking of his advocacy of liberal causes like gun-control and preventing New Yorkers from enjoying “Big Gulp” sodas, Bloomberg told the Times, reportedly with a grin, “I am telling you if there is a God, when I get to heaven I’m not stopping to be interviewed.”

“I am heading straight in,” he went on. “I have earned my place in heaven. It’s not even close.”

In pursuing his self-professed heavenly mission to fight gun rights, Bloomberg says he plans to be ruthless in opposing politicians who refuse to fall in line on the issue.

“They say, ‘We don’t care. We’re going to go after you,’ ” he told the Times, speaking of the NRA. “ ‘If you don’t vote with us we’re going to go after your kids and your grandkids and your great-grandkids. And we’re never going to stop.”

“We’ve got to make them afraid of us,” he reasoned.

But as the Times notes, “Mr. Bloomberg has already spent millions of dollars trying to persuade members of Congress to support enhanced background check laws with virtually nothing to show for it.”

The $50 million dollar commitment, however, takes his anti-gun advocacy to the next level. As a comparison, the Times reports that the NRA spent less than half as much on its gun rights advocacy last year.

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