Bernie Sanders Will Not Accept Money from Bloomberg if He Seals Nomination

Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) campaign on Tuesday confirmed that, in the event Sanders becomes the Democrat nominee, the socialist senator will not accept money from Mike Bloomberg (D).

Sanders’ targeting of billionaires has been a hallmark of his 2020 presidential campaign. He has blasted Bloomberg, who made a late entry into the political race, for attempting to “buy” the election. His campaign confirmed on Tuesday that he will not accept money from Bloomberg if he, Sanders, becomes the nominee.

“It’s a hard no,” Sanders’ senior advisor Jeff Weaver told NBC News. “Bernie has said he’s going to fund his presidential campaign with small-dollar contributions, and I think we can do that.”

Weaver added that he believes Sanders’ campaign can “raise over a billion dollars in small-dollar contributions.”

Bloomberg has already spent over $400 million on political advertising and has said that he will pour his resources into supporting the Democrat nominee, even if it is not him.

“Mike Bloomberg is either going to be the nominee or the most important person supporting the Democratic nominee for president,” Bloomberg campaign manager Kevin Sheekey said. “He is dedicated to getting Trump out of the White House.”

Bloomberg senior advisor Howard Wolfson said this week that Bloomberg will refrain from assisting Sanders if the socialist becomes the nominee.

“Bernie said he didn’t want [Bloomberg’s] money, so we’re not going to. I don’t think it would be prudent to spend on behalf of somebody who didn’t want it,” he told NBC News.

Sanders took aim at billionaires and billionaire support at Tuesday evening’s Democrat debate, contending that the economy has been “really great for people like Mr. Bloomberg and other billionaires” but not for ordinary Americans. He also blasted Pete Buttigieg (D) and Joe Biden (D) for accepting support from billionaires.

“I will tell you, Pete, what the American people want, and, Joe, what the American people want. They don’t want candidates to be running to billionaires for huge amounts of funding,” he said.

“Pete has gotten funding from over 50 billionaires,” he added.

“You’ve got people believing something that is false. This needs to be cleared up,” the former South Bend mayor responded.

“I can’t allow this to stand because it’s just not true,” he continued, contending that “grassroots contributions are the lifeblood” of his campaign.

Indeed, dozens of billionaires have donated to Buttigieg’s campaign.