Republican South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem struck back at Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg Tuesday, wondering if the former mayor of New York City knew anything about farming.
Noem, who is also a farmer, told “Fox & Friends” that she wasn’t sure that Bloomberg “would be able to turn on our corn planter.”
A video from 2016 showed Bloomberg addressing the Distinguished Speakers Series at the University of Oxford Saïd Business School, Bloomberg was explaining why he believed there was a cultural and political divide in America: farmers and factory workers just didn’t have the “gray matter” to adjust to the information age.
“The agrarian society lasted 3,000 years and we could teach processes. I could teach anybody, even people in this room, no offense intended, to be a farmer,” Bloomberg said. (RELATED: ‘You’re A F**king Fascist!’ — Second Amendment Activists Heckle Mike Bloomberg In Virginia)
“That comment is nothing but pompous ignorance,” Noem said. “Who does Mike Bloomberg think he is? Every single day farmers work long hours but they don’t just have to deal with the labor side. They understand genetics and engineering, biology, chemistry.” The governor noted that everyday American farmers work to “feed the world” and that Bloomberg is, once again, showing how “out of touch [he is] with everyday Americans.”
Noem suggested that the Democratic candidate could get more in touch with farmers if he could “spend a day” on a farm “to ride horses, rope steers, go out there and drive G.P.S.-controlled tractors, computer-programmed grain handling systems and then internationally market your commodities to pay your bills and continue to do what they do best.”
She suggested farmers and factory workers are not the only segment of American society that Bloomberg “belittles.” She suggested that the multi-billionaire businessman enjoys being an elitist who has little time or affection for “everyday Americans.” (RELATED: ‘That Is Not Democracy!’: Protester Runs On Stage, Grabs Mic At Bloomberg Rally)
(Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)
“Almost every time you turn on your TV these days he has another comment insulting another segment of the population. So, I just think farmers and ranchers across the country are incredibly hurt and offended by those comments and I would challenge Mike Bloomberg to do what they do every day.”
The governor said the billionaire obviously knows nothing about the modern American farm. “I don’t even know if Mike Bloomberg would be able to turn on our corn planter, it’s incredibly difficult to run modern equipment and do what farmers do every day. I’m proud of them.”
Bloomberg has been plagued of late by comments he made before announcing his presidential bid. As mayor of New York City, he promoted the “stop and frisk” policy that targeted minorities when police stopped people on the street to search for weapons or drugs. He has since apologized for that policy but audio from a Feb. 6, 2015 Aspen Security Institute event recently surfaced where the former mayor was vigorously defending stop and frisk, even if police had to “throw” minority males “up against the wall and frisk them.”