Liberal billionaire Michael Bloomberg has gone from “scrapping” his plan for an independent expenditure campaign to reportedly planning to spend a heap of cash to support presumptive Democratic nominee for president Joe Biden’s candidacy.
Talk about a complete 180-degree turnaround.
The failed 2020 billionaire candidate and “his closest political advisors are discussing whether Bloomberg’s expenditures will include major donations to pro-Biden super PACs, Biden’s joint fundraising effort with the Democratic National Committee, or another independent group,” CNBC reported.
Although it is unclear how much Bloomberg will spend, CNBC reported that it is anticipated that he could “end up spending in excess of $250 million to support Biden.”
CNBC provided further context:
With six months to go until the general election, Bloomberg investing part of his $58 billion net worth would be a critical boost for the former vice president. Biden and other leaders of the Democratic Party have been trying to build a general election juggernaut that would have a chance of overcoming President Donald Trump’s war chest.
This is a bizarre move for the billionaire. Just in March, Bloomberg backtracked on his promise to use his multimillion-dollar campaign to support the presumptive Democratic nominee, according to NBC News’ Maura Barrett. Barrett stated in a tweet that “@MikeBloomberg is scrapping his plan to fund an independent expenditure campaign to support the Democratic nominee (he's endorsed @JoeBiden).” Barrett noted that Bloomberg was “laying off his staff” and was instead transferring just $18 million to the Democratic National Committee.
One would think Bloomberg would have learned his lesson after wasting more than $1 billion on his failed campaign. Apparently dumping unheard of amounts of cash into a campaign doesn’t guarantee election outcomes.
Still, Bloomberg had promised to spend “$2 billion on either his own campaign or to help finance a Democratic nominee to unseat President Trump in the 2020 general election,” according to Fox Business Jan. 17.
One thing seems to be clear: Bloomberg doesn’t appear to be planning to sit on the sidelines this election cycle.
