Michael Bloomberg’s Firm Is Vying To Take Over Joe Biden’s Campaign, Report Says
A Friday report from The Intercept’s Ryan Grim claims that former Democratic presidential candidate and billionaire Michael Bloomberg is looking to use his firm, Hawkfish, to take over the campaign of Joe Biden, who is the Democratic Party’s presumptive nominee.
The report claims that Bloomberg’s firm, which ran his presidential campaign, has been “courting” several progressive and Democratic organizations. The recent moves appear to be part of a play to gain control of the Democratic Party infrastructure, not unlike Donald Trump has accomplished with the Republican Party.
Grim claims that an anonymous Hawkfish insider said the company is willing to operate at a loss that Bloomberg plans to cover. In return, the billionaire is allegedly hoping to “grab control of the party infrastructure.”
“When the objective isn’t money but control, $18 million is incredibly cheap to become the center of gravity for all Democratic political information, which we would be if both Biden and [House Democrats] have to come through us,” the source said, referring to Bloomberg’s transfer of $18 million to the Democratic Party last month.
CNBC reported that Bloomberg’s campaign discusses its reasoning for the donation in a memo it wrote to Democratic National Committee chairman Tom Perez.
“While we considered creating our own independent entity to support the nominee and hold the President accountable, this race is too important to have many competing groups with good intentions but that are not coordinated and united in strategy and execution.”
As reported by NPR, Bloomberg’s donation came after he laid off staffers who claim he promised to pay through the general election in November. According to the report, some of these staffers are suing the 78-year-old politician.
Bloomberg, a former Republican, doesn’t have values that align with the majority of Democrats, which he has admitted. According to one Democratic operative who was pitched by Hawkfish, the billionaire plans to take down Trump and drive the Democratic Party in a direction that aligns with his political values.
Grim’s report does not come long after Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, an Independent who drove the Democrat Party to the left, dropped out of the primary.
Bloomberg’s alleged plan echoes the Trump campaign, whose campaign manager, Brad Parscale, has reportedly taken over the Republican Party’s fundraising via his firm, Parscale Strategy. With this fundraising machinery, the campaign was able to generate over $60 million in January. Given its recent success, the campaign expects to be able to earn $1 billion for the president’s current re-election campaign, which appears to be on track to pit him against Biden.
