- As Super Tuesday got underway, it became clear that former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg would not have a great night, despite aggressive spending throughout his campaign.
- Media across the board tore into Bloomberg throughout the evening, pressuring him to drop out.
- Multiple reports began to roll in suggesting that Bloomberg might suspend his campaign following Super Tuesday.
Anchors and reporters across numerous networks made one thing clear as Super Tuesday got underway – almost none of them want former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg to remain in the Democratic presidential race.
Bloomberg, who has spent about half a billion dollars on his 2020 presidential campaign, only won American Samoa Tuesday evening. While he claimed to have garnered success in the race Tuesday evening during a speech to supporters, others did not seem to agree.
NBC National politics reporter Josh Lederman started the evening off by reporting that there is “intense pressure” for the former mayor to drop out of the race. He added that this pressure was coming from “senior” Democratic officials who want to pave the way for former Vice President Joe Biden to take the nomination.
“Intense pressure tonight on Mike Bloomberg to bow out of the race – clear a path for Joe Biden,” Lederman reported. “We’ve been talking to Democratic officials. Senior people within the party. People who have a lot of influence who have acknowledged they have been in touch with the Bloomberg campaign trying to make the case that now is the time for the sake of party unity to step aside. Particularly the party really coalesced behind Joe Biden.”
Lederman added that there was no indication at the time that Bloomberg would agree to bow out.
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The hits on Bloomberg continued, with Fox News’ Chris Wallace reporting on the former mayor’s “terrible night” fairly early into the evening. Biden quickly won Virginia on Tuesday, and Wallace noted that Bloomberg lost despite having near-constant television ads running “in Washington TV, which is Northern Virginia.”
“He’s not having a good night. He may not make the 15% threshold,” Wallace said.
The Fox News host added that Bloomberg has spent millions of dollars leading up to Super Tuesday in television advertisements alone. (RELATED: Biden Wins Minnesota, Oklahoma And Tennessee, Sanders Wins Colorado In Second Round Of Super Tuesday Results)
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CNN chief political analyst Gloria Borger also spoke about Bloomberg’s massive spending spree Tuesday evening. She pointed out how Biden spent far less money than Bloomberg and still won Virginia by large margins.
“I have our cheat sheet,” Borger said. “But in Virginia, yes, almost $18 million dollars for Bloomberg and a few hundred thousand [dollars] for Joe Biden.”
David Axelrod, former senior advisor to former President Barack Obama, added that Biden did not “self destruct” as Bloomberg had perhaps betted, and that the former mayor will now have to make a decision about staying in the race from this point forward.
“He lost that bet,” Axelrod said. “And now he is losing in the early returns we’ve seen in a variety of states. It seems pretty clear that he’s going to have a decision to make after this that could alter the race moving forward because he’s not getting a very good return on his investment.”
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MSNBC anchor Brian Williams, meanwhile, put things a little bit more simply. As Bloomberg’s less-than-stellar Tuesday evening continued, Williams noted that the billionaire was “not having the night he thought he paid for.”
“We’ll go back and listen to Mike Bloomberg, who is, fair to say, not having the night he thought he paid for, not having the night he was hoping for,” Williams said as he interrupted Bloomberg’s win to report on Arkansas.
President Donald Trump, a constant critic of Bloomberg’s, weighed in on the evening as well. He tweeted calling “Mini Mike Bloomberg” “the biggest loser” of the night.
Despite Bloomberg’s positive attitude while speaking to supporters, reports began to roll in about a possible campaign suspension. Bloomberg campaign officials told Lederman that they would “take another look tomorrow, once the data comes in,” he reported.
Vice News’ senior political reporter Cameron Joseph similarly reported that a source close to Bloomberg’s campaign told him “the rationale for the campaign basically got wiped out” when Biden won South Carolina.
“At least I got a bunch of free sandwiches out of it,” the source reportedly told Joseph.