Campaign

Bloomberg campaign: Vandalism at Tennessee office ‘echoes language from the Sanders campaign and its supporters’

by Julia Manchester - 02/21/20 2:00 PM ET

Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s presidential campaign called out Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-Vt.) presidential campaign after its Knoxville, Tenn., office was vandalized, saying the incident was reminiscent of language used by Sanders and his supporters.

“This latest incident at our Knoxville campaign office is exactly what we’ve been warning about. We don’t know who is responsible for this vandalism, but we do know it echoes language from the Sanders campaign and its supporters,” Bloomberg campaign manager Kevin Sheekey said in a statement.

“We call on Bernie Sanders to immediately condemn these attacks and for his campaign to end the Trump-like rhetoric that is clearly encouraging his supporters to engage in behavior that has no place in our politics,” he said.

The Hill has reached out to the Sanders campaign for comment.

The Bloomberg campaign’s statement came after the front doors and the sides of the building were spray-painted with expletives and words such as “racist” and “oligarch.”

Bloomberg’s campaign said the latest incident follows a string of vandalizations at Bloomberg offices this month. The other incidents took place in Toledo, Ohio; Youngstown, Ohio; and Ann Arbor, Mich.

Sanders condemned the behavior of individuals claiming to be his supporters online at Wednesday’s Democratic debate, saying they were not part of the campaign’s movement.

“We have more than 10.6 million people on Twitter, and 99.9 percent of them are decent human beings,” Sanders said. “If there are a few people who make ugly remarks, I disown those people.”

“They are not part of our movement,” he concluded.

Bloomberg, along with former Vice President Joe Biden and former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg, have called Sanders out for the rhetoric and behavior of his supporters recently.

“When you say that you disown these attacks and that you didn’t personally direct them, I believe you,” Buttigieg told Sanders at Wednesday’s debate in Las Vegas. “But at a certain point, you’ve got to ask yourself, why did this pattern arise? Why is it especially the case among your supporters?”

“I don’t think it’s especially the case, by the way,” Sanders responded.

“That’s just not true,” Buttigieg hit back.

Tags Bernie Sanders Bernie Sanders Joe Biden Michael Bloomberg Michael Bloomberg Pete Buttigieg