Sen. Elizabeth Warren on the presidential debate stage Wednesday night implored Democrats to oppose a billionaire businessman with a long history of sexist remarks and numerous accusations of sexual harassment in the workplace.
She was referring to former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, not President Donald Trump.
Warren argued that Democrats cannot defeat Trump, who himself has a well-publicized record of mistreating and insulting women, by nominating a candidate with a similar history.
“I’d like to talk about who we’re running against: A billionaire who calls women ‘fat broads’ and ‘horse-faced lesbians.’ And no, I’m not talking about Donald Trump. I’m talking about Mayor Bloomberg,” the Massachusetts senator said. “Democrats are not going to win if we have a nominee who has a history of hiding his tax returns, of harassing women, and of supporting racist policies like redlining and stop and frisk.”
“Look, I’ll support whoever the Democratic nominee is,” Warren added. “But understand this: Democrats take a huge risk if we just substitute one arrogant billionaire for another.”
Democrats take a huge risk if we just substitute one arrogant billionaire for another. It’s time to have a president who is on the side of working families—and is willing to get out there and fight for them. #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/SyxGIpcGCS
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) February 20, 2020
Bloomberg responded that at his foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, “the person that runs it’s a woman, 70 percent of the people there are women.”
“In my company, lots and lots of women have big responsibilities,” said Bloomberg, the co-founder and CEO of Bloomberg L.P.
Warren hit back, saying Bloomberg’s reply “just doesn’t cut it.”
“I hope you heard what his defense was: ‘I’ve been nice to some women,'” Warren said. “The mayor has to stand on his record. And what we need to know is exactly what’s lurking out there. He has gotten some number of women, dozens, who knows, to sign non-disclosure agreements both for sexual harassment and for gender discrimination in the workplace.”
After Warren pressed Bloomberg on whether he would be willing to “release all of those women from those non-disclosure agreements,” Bloomberg refused to make such a commitment and downplayed the workplace complaints against him.
“None of them accuse me of doing anything, other than maybe they didn’t like a joke I told,” Bloomberg said, a remark that was met with noises of disapproval from the audience.
This is not just a question of Mike Bloomberg’s character—it’s a question about electability. We’re not going to beat Donald Trump with a man who silences women with who knows how many nondisclosure agreements. #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/ozPFghxU8s
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) February 20, 2020
Current Affairs editor Nathan Robinson wrote in a lengthy article on Bloomberg’s record earlier this month that the billionaire “is one of Donald Trump’s social peers, but he also shares Trump’s record of crassly sexist commentary.”
“Seventeen women have filed lawsuits over the years against Bloomberg’s company, alleging a ‘notoriously sexist and hostile work environment’ with Bloomberg himself having personally ‘encouraged this type of sexist and sexually charged behavior,'” Robinson noted. “According to court records, Bloomberg ‘would gawk at women and say about their legs, ‘I like that,’ and ‘defended his attitude by saying it keeps him young.’ The list of sexist and crass comments goes on and on.”
The comment Warren cited during the debate appears in The Portable Bloomberg, a booklet of quotes given to Bloomberg by employees on his 48th birthday in 1990.
“The Royal family—what a bunch of misfits—a gay, an architect, that horsey faced lesbian, and a kid who gave up Koo Stark for some fat broad,” Bloomberg said according to the booklet, which the Washington Post published in full online earlier this month.
“Yes, these are all actual quotes,” Elisabeth DeMarse, Bloomberg L.P.’s former chief marketing officer, wrote in the introduction to the booklet.
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Common Dreams | Radio Free (2020-02-20T09:47:28+00:00) Warren Says Democrats Must Oppose Billionaire Who Calls Women 'Fat Broads' and 'Horse-Faced Lesbians' (She Wasn't Talking About Trump). Retrieved from https://www.radiofree.org/2020/02/20/warren-says-democrats-must-oppose-billionaire-who-calls-women-fat-broads-and-horse-faced-lesbians-she-wasnt-talking-about-trump/
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