Former Vice President Joe Biden (D) blasted Democratic presidential contender Michael Bloomberg in a new ad mocking the New York billionaire’s strategy of paying social media influencers to make memes for his campaign.
The Biden campaign released a video on Wednesday mocking direct messages Bloomberg has sent influencers on Instagram.
“I’m spending a lot of money this year. And I’d like to use it to make you think I’m a fan of Barack Obama,” the ad begins. It continues to show a series of clips of Bloomberg attacking Obama’s record.
The ad starts with a video of Bloomberg in 2010, claiming that the Affordable Care Act does “absolutely nothing to fix the big healthcare problems,” and calling it a “disgrace.”
Then a video from 2016 shows Bloomberg suggesting that Obama was responsible for making America “more segregated in America certainly than we were, in terms of race, than we were a dozen years ago.”
Bloomberg continued to ask, “Why during the Obama administration didn’t we pull together? Ask the president, that’s his job, really.”
The ad ends with a 2011 clip of Bloomberg calling himself a friend of President Donald Trump and shows several pictures of the two together.
Watch the ad below:
Welcome to the debates, Mike. We have a lot to catch up on about Barack Obama’s record. pic.twitter.com/bMYPLYwnfQ
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) February 19, 2020
Bloomberg’s campaign fired back with an ad that sounded like an endorsement by Biden. It featured a clip of Biden praising Bloomberg’s record as mayor.
“Joe Biden has dedicated his life to this country. As a senator, and as a vice president, he has always stood by the side of great men. We are honored to have Joe’s support,” the Bloomberg campaign said in a tweet.
In the video, Biden praised Bloomberg’s record on environmental issues as well as his “passion,” “principles,” and “leadership.”
Watch the ad below:
https://twitter.com/Mike2020/status/1230185349571383296?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1230185349571383296&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonexaminer.com%2Fnews%2Fbiden-parodies-bloomberg-memes-in-video-featuring-obama-criticism
When asked about the Bloomberg ad, Biden quipped, “I don’t endorse Republicans,” he told the Washington Examiner — a shot at Bloomberg’s record as running for mayor of New York City as a Republican then switching back to a Democrat after he left office.
The two ads come as Bloomberg has been surging in the polls following disappointing performances by Biden in the first two primary contests. A RealClearPolitics average of national polls shows Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vt.) with a sizable lead in first place, and Biden and Bloomberg in a close race for second.
Both Biden and Bloomberg cast themselves as moderate candidates. But an internal Bloomberg campaign memo warned that Biden and other candidates could split the moderate vote and allow Sanders to cruise to the nomination.
Additionally, Bloomberg campaign officials claimed the former mayor is the only Democratic candidate who can stop Sanders from winning the nomination. Despite his early stumbles, Biden sounded optimistic about his chances of winning the nomination and gave no indication that he plans to drop out soon.
