Politics

Trump says Bloomberg skips debates because he is a ‘terrible speaker’

President Trump took a swipe at Mike Bloomberg on Friday for not taking part in televised Democratic debates because “he is a terrible speaker” — and slammed his ads as “purposely wrong.”

“Mini Mike Bloomberg doesn’t get on the Democrat Debate Stage because he doesn’t want to — he is a terrible debater and speaker,” the president said in a tweet.

“If he did, he would go down in the polls even more (if that is possible!),” he added.

The multibillionaire former mayor — who has already spent more than $225 million in ads in his 2020 presidential campaign — did not take part in Tuesday night’s debate in Iowa because the Democratic National Committee requires candidates to collect thousands of small-dollar donations to qualify and he is self-financing his campaign.

“The party rules prevent me from debating. If they change the rules I’d be happy to join it,” Bloomberg, who entered the race in November, said in a new ad airing on cable stations.

But he stressed that he would like to participate.

“It’s harder to get the message out if you’re not in the debates. It gives you a lot of television exposure,” Bloomberg said.

In a separate tweet, Trump said: “Mini Mike Bloomberg ads are purposely wrong – A vanity project for him to get into the game.

“Nobody in many years has done for the USA what I have done for the USA, including the greatest economy in history, rebuilding our military, biggest ever tax & regulation cuts, & 2nd A!” he said.

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Michael Bloomberg
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Tom Steyer, Elizabeth Warren, Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar participate in the seventh Democratic 2020 presidential debate.
Tom Steyer, Elizabeth Warren, Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar participate in the seventh Democratic 2020 presidential debate.REUTERS
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Donald Trump
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The commander in chief also made a false-advertising claim on Monday.

“Mini Mike Bloomberg is spending a lot of money on False Advertising. I was the person who saved Pre-Existing Conditions in your Healthcare, you have it now, while at the same time winning the fight to rid you of the expensive, unfair and very unpopular Individual Mandate,” Trump tweeted.

A newly released betting market analysis by Standard Chartered Bank found that Bloomberg is viewed as the Democrat most likely to defeat Trump, though he has a 10 percent chance of winning the nomination, according to The Hill.

Bloomberg, who Forbes estimates has a net worth of almost $60 billion, also plans to release his tax returns if he receives the Democratic nomination for president, according to a senior campaign aide.

“He’ll release his returns and he has every intention of handling this in a completely different way than Donald Trump has, because he understands the transparency around his finances and the absence of financial conflicts of interest are important for the president of the United States,” said Tim O’Brien, according to the Mother Jones news outlet.

Trump, whose net worth according to Forbes is about $3 billion, has steadfastly refused to release his tax returns.