As Michael Bloomberg announced he was dropping out of the 2020 presidential race and endorsing Joe Biden Wednesday morning, MSNBC anchor Stephanie Ruhle gushed that “Mike can get it done” and still defeat President Trump in November by backing Biden. She also hyped how Bloomberg’s digital campaign could “supercharge” the Democratic frontrunner.
“Now, from his campaign’s perspective, they think they are still on track. His slogan, ‘Mike can get it done,’ they think they’re going to,” Ruhle claimed during the 10:00 a.m. ET hour, even as Bloomberg was ending his failed bid. She explained: “His number one goal from the beginning has been to get Donald Trump out of office. Mayor Bloomberg thinks that Trump is a threat to our democracy....So with Joe Biden...moving forward, Mayor Bloomberg will get behind him.”
Ruhle was particularly excited about Biden inheriting some of the billionaire’s campaign infrastructure:
One of the ways this could be massively helpful for Joe Biden is Mike’s digital platform, his digital campaign, the business Josh and I have talked about a lot, Hawkfish. Until now, you have only seen Mayor Bloomberg and Donald Trump’s digital efforts being able to go head to head. This can supercharge Joe Biden.
Bringing Ruhle back on in the 11:00 a.m. ET hour, fellow anchor Craig Melvin pointed out the massive amount of money wasted by Bloomberg: “$445,426, 447, that’s how much Michael Bloomberg spent for six delegates from American Samoa.” Amazingly, Ruhle spun it as success:
From his perspective, if his number one goal was to defeat Donald Trump, look where he spent that money, watch those ads. You know what he did in the majority of those ads? Go after Joe? Not that much. Go afternoon Bernie? Not so much. He brutally went after Donald J. Trump day in and day out. So don’t expect that machine to go away. In his mind, he exposed Donald Trump’s vulnerabilities.
She concluded: “So in some ways, as humiliated as he may be, he’s getting his ultimate goal and now he’s going to put – not ultimate goal – he’s getting what he wants in a centrist voice trying to push Donald Trump out. It just ain’t his.”
After Melvin brought up Hawkfish again, Ruhle asserted: “I’ll tell you who’s getting more concerned – Donald Trump’s campaign. President Trump’s campaign knows what a digital force Hawkfish is, what Michael Bloomberg has.”
Ruhle’s fawning analysis of Bloomberg was remarkably similar to that of CBS News correspondent Major Garrett, who appeared on CBS This Morning earlier Wednesday morning and argued: “That money may not have helped Mike Bloomberg, but it does lay a predicate for an evaluation of President Trump later on and it might not have been money ill spent in the long run.”
Apparently when a Democratic presidential candidate fails spectacularly, the media just see it as another form of success.
Here is a full transcript of the March 4 MSNBC coverage:
10:23 AM ET
(...)
STEPHANIE RUHLE: Now, from his campaign’s perspective, they think they are still on track. His slogan, “Mike can get it done,” they think they’re going to. His number one goal from the beginning has been to get Donald Trump out of office. Mayor Bloomberg thinks that Trump is a threat to our democracy.
But when Mayor Bloomberg entered the race, we saw Bernie Sanders surging, we saw Elizabeth Warren surging. And that was a moment in time in this election when Joe Biden was starting to flounder. Mike has said over and over again he doesn’t believe a democratic socialist message can defeat Donald Trump. So with Joe Biden who has very similar – a very similar platform – is moving forward, Mayor Bloomberg will get behind him.
One of the ways this could be massively helpful for Joe Biden is Mike’s digital platform, his digital campaign, the business Josh and I have talked about a lot, Hawkfish. Until now, you have only seen Mayor Bloomberg and Donald Trump’s digital efforts being able to go head to head. This can supercharge Joe Biden.
And I would say one other thing, Donald Trump’s argument that without Donald Trump the economy is going to fail, a socialist will tank the economy. That sort of flies out the window. Yesterday, the Federal Reserve had an emergency rate cut and Joe Biden backed by – excuse me, Michael Bloomberg, there’s no way you can push that they are democratic socialists. All of that sort of flies out the window and puts Donald Trump on the heels, which is exactly what the entire Democratic frontrunners are trying to do.
(...)
11:03 AM ET
CRAIG MELVIN: $445,426, 447, that’s how much Michael Bloomberg spent for six delegates from American Samoa.
RUHLE: There you go, it’s sounds like he bought American Samoa last night. From his perspective, if his number one goal was to defeat Donald Trump, look where he spent that money, watch those ads. You know what he did in the majority of those ads? Go after Joe? Not that much. Go afternoon Bernie? Not so much. He brutally went after Donald J. Trump day in and day out. So don’t expect that machine to go away. In his mind, he exposed Donald Trump’s vulnerabilities.
He entered the race when Bernie Sanders was soaring and Mayor Bloomberg very much feels that a Bernie Sanders democratic socialist message cannot defeat Donald Trump. So in some ways, as humiliated as he may be, he’s getting his ultimate goal and now he’s going to put – not ultimate goal – he’s getting what he wants in a centrist voice trying to push Donald Trump out. It just ain’t his.
(...)
11:05 AM ET
MELVIN: I just talked to one of his staffers. They’re in a meeting right now to figure out precisely what the next few months of their lives will look like. Hawkfish. And if you don’t know what it is, you should Google it right now. What do we know about what happens to this massive digital data gathering operation that the Bloomberg folks have been quietly putting together over the last few months?
RUHLE: I would just say, you might not know Hawkfish, but Hawkfish knows a whole lot about you.
MELVIN: That’s true.
JOSH LEDERMAN: That’s right. And Michael Bloomberg said that he plans to continue to deploy this technical expertise that Hawkfish has developed in favor of whoever the nominee is. We’ll have to see exactly what that looks like. But as we speak, Craig, there’s a lot of rearranging going on of their resources. I’m actually just speaking now with an official who says that the $7 million in ad buys that the Bloomberg campaign had placed in post-Super Tuesday states, these are buys that they already had up to start airing today and in the future, those buys are now coming down. That doesn’t mean that he’s not going to spend in the future on ads against Trump, or for the nominee, but for the time being they are taking that ad time that they had purchased, they are handing it back while they reassess how they’re going to deploy their resources moving forward.
MELVIN: Really quickly, Stephanie, one of the things that Jim Clyburn said last week to me, one of the chief concerns about Biden’s campaign moving forward was money, and their ability to raise money. And that quietly there had been some concerns. It would seem as if that would no longer be a concern for the Biden campaign.
RUHLE: No longer a concern for the campaign. I’ll tell you who’s getting more concerned – Donald Trump’s campaign. President Trump’s campaign knows what a digital force Hawkfish is, what Michael Bloomberg has. Joe Biden has basically had nothing in terms of digital capabilities. If he’s supercharged with what Mike has to offer and at the same time Donald Trump, who’s been saying, “Democrats are all socialists, you have no shot, that’s going to tank the economy,” look what the market did today. The market went up with the possibility of a Joe Biden instead of a Bernie Sanders.
(...)
