Michael Bloomberg, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Climate Action, speaks during the plenary session of the Global Action Climate Summit Thursday, Sept. 13, 2018, in San Francisco. The mayor of Paris and other top officials who were instrumental in the securing the 2015 U.N. climate accord open a California summit by talking about the importance of continuing the path to clean energy, despite President Donald Trump’s withdrawal of the United States from the pact. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)
Even though he has yet to win a single delegate, Mike Bloomberg apparently sees himself as Donald Trump’s general election opponent already. To a great extent he’s ignoring his Democrat opponents while touting down-ballot candidates and insulting President Trump:
Shouldn’t you be pardoning Roger Stone, you #carnivalbarkingclown? https://t.co/PYNj4QPNbG
— Mike Bloomberg (@MikeBloomberg) February 20, 2020
.@realDonaldTrump – we know many of the same people in NY. Behind your back they laugh at you & call you a carnival barking clown. They know you inherited a fortune & squandered it with stupid deals and incompetence.
I have the record & the resources to defeat you. And I will. https://t.co/fO4azmZaUg
— Mike Bloomberg (@MikeBloomberg) February 13, 2020
Wednesday night, while Bloomberg was convincing most of America that they really didn’t like and would not vote for him, President Trump held a rally in Phoenix and campaigned in Las Vegas.
Wow, Arizona! Big Phoenix rally.
✅ 67,516 Tickets
✅ 29,990 Voters Identified (87% from AZ)
✅ 26% Didn’t Vote in 2016
✅ 18% Democrats
Thank You Arizona. Winning Data!
— Brad Parscale (@parscale) February 20, 2020
Bloomberg’s campaign came up with the idea of trolling President Trump along the routes he may use.
Mike Bloomberg is looking beyond the war being waged against him by the Democratic primary field toward general election opponent President Trump, trolling him with billboards where the president himself is campaigning in the West this week.
CBS News has exclusively learned that the billboards are going up in Phoenix and Las Vegas, where Mr. Trump will be campaigning Friday. The billboards are appearing in high visibility areas near a Trump hotel property on the Vegas Strip, and also along potential motorcade routes where the president may see them as he drives by.
— Team Bloomberg (@Mike2020) February 21, 2020
— Team Bloomberg (@Mike2020) February 21, 2020
Spotted driving down the strip: those new Bloomberg billboards about Trump. pic.twitter.com/bZFvVxYWph
— Ali Vitali (@alivitali) February 21, 2020
Played golf with 14 yr old Trump; YES he moved his ball !
'Trump Cheats at Golf': Bloomberg's Billboard Campaign Targets President's Golf Game, Eating Habits https://t.co/1OHb2n1lar via @mediaite
— Robby H – #BlueTsunami #JailTrump #ClimateCrisis (@sccoastaldude) February 21, 2020
Here is a hi-tech one
Spotted on the corner of Flamingo and Paradise roads in Las Vegas: Bloomberg Billboards trolling Trump pic.twitter.com/gVVzwRuQ30
— Caitlin Huey-Burns (@CHueyBurns) February 21, 2020
I’m not really sure that Bloomberg understands how this game is played. He seems stuck in the “your mama wears combat boots” insult era. From the other items I’ve seen, I’m pretty sure his staff are not up to the task of matching Trump’s team on insults and hitting weak points. During the 2016, the Clinton team also focused on insulting Trump over his business failures and other foibles as a way of elevating her status and of making Trump lose his temper. It didn’t end terribly well for a number of reasons. Donald Trump insulting people is baked into the equation. Clinton, or Bloomberg, doing so is not. If you’re going to insult someone be clever or outrageous, don’t be banal. Bloomberg is quintessentially banal.
Maybe Bloomberg will be able to hire enough funny people to follow him around and whisper snappy comebacks in his ear and write them on Twitter. Right now there is no evidence this plan is going to work out any better than his debate performance.
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