An MSNBC panel described Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg’s jokes during Tuesday night’s South Carolina debate as “flat” and “scripted.”
“There were several flat deliveries of jokes by Mike Bloomberg. Some of them were obviously scripted,” noted MSBNC host Lawrence O’Donnell. “So, part of the homework for reviving this candidacy within the debate was going to be ‘let’s use that New York humor’ — that absolutely did not work.”
O’Donnell said Bloomberg improved from his first debate. “He was substantive on education and on other subjects where he did much better than the last time.” (RELATED: ‘I Can Teach Anyone … To Be A Farmer’: Bloomberg Once Belittled Farmers And Factory Workers)
But the MSNBC host insisted the Charleston debate was about more than just the South Carolina primary that former Vice President Joe Biden desperately needs to win.
“More than anything else, this was the California debate. It’s the last time California voters see these people in the debate stage. And California has these three hugely expensive media markets. San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco. Bloomberg’s the only one who can really buy those markets the way you need to buy them now,” he said.(RELATED: ‘You’re A F**king Fascist!’ — Second Amendment Activists Heckle Mike Bloomberg In Virginia)
Democratic 2020 U.S. presidential candidate and former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg speaks during the tenth Democratic 2020 presidential debate at the Gaillard Center in Charleston, South Carolina, U.S., Feb. 25, 2020. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
CNN analyst Van Jones said Bloomberg’s last debate performance was a “disaster” on par with the “Titanic.”
The former mayor made also insisted during Tuesday’s debate that he had “bought” the Democratic majority in the House of Representatives.
“They talk about 40 Democrats, 21 of those were people that I spent $100 million to help elect,” Bloomberg said. “All of the new Democrats that came in and put Nancy Pelosi in charge, and gave the Congress the ability to control this president, I bought, I got them.”