Democrats say Mike Bloomberg 'stiffed' the party after pledge to spend big on the general election

Michael Bloomberg.
(Image credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Michael Bloomberg promised to spend big to beat President Trump this fall. Many Democrats say he hasn't lived up to that promise.

The former New York City mayor spent nearly $1 billion on his moderate bid for the Democratic nomination, but hasn't given a single dollar directly to Joe Biden's 2020 campaign. Yet he still managed to secure a speaking slot in the final night of the Democratic National Convention, and it has some Democrats questioning why, The New York Times reports.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

But Bloomberg hasn't given to Biden's actual campaign, and he reneged on the pledge to his staffers. This led progressive activist Amy Siskind to ask the question:

Bloomberg's former national political chair Thomas Nutter told the Times that Democrats could expect "the re-emergence of the political Mike Bloomberg" come Thursday's DNC. He also said Bloomberg is "usually a later supporter," though University of Wisconsin-Madison political science professor Eleanor Neff Powell noted this year's emphasis on early voting means that may not be helpful. Read more at The New York Times.

Explore More

Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.