Media

Paul Krugman: ‘Bloomberg is not evil, but he shouldn’t be in this race’

by Joe Concha - 02/24/20 10:02 AM ET

New York Times columnist Paul Krugman told Democracy Now on Monday that he doesn’t believe billionaire businessmen Michael Bloomberg and Tom Steyer should be in the 2020 presidential race.

His remarks come as Bloomberg and Steyer have spent hundreds of millions of dollars on their respective campaigns, with Bloomberg, the former New York City mayor, recently eclipsing $450 million in spending while drawing the ire of some pundits who argue that his rise in the polls is only due to massive ad buys.

“I don’t think that billionaires are inherently evil,” Krugman, a winner of the Nobel Prize for Economics, said in a conversation with Richard Wolff, who recently authored “Understanding Socialism” and is a supporter of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). “But there is something when two guys that really don’t have any kind of national political base are only in this race because of their money.”

“Bloomberg is not evil,” Krugman added. “But he shouldn’t be in this race.”

Bloomberg and Steyer have spent more than five times as much as all of the other Democratic candidates still in the race combined, according to numbers released by political ad tracker Kantar/CMAG on Feb. 16.

Here’s a look at ad spending through today (including future reservations:

Bloomberg: $417.7 million
Steyer: $193.6 million
Sanders: $41.8 million
Buttigieg: $40 millon
Warren: $21.4 million
Biden: $12.3 million
Klobuchar: $10.6 million
Gabbard $5.4 million

— David Wright (@DavidWright_7) February 16, 2020

Bloomberg’s precipitous rise in the polls hit an apparent stumbling block after a debate performance last week in Las Vegas that was universally panned.

A Morning Consult poll released Friday shows Bloomberg dropping 3 points behind Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and former Vice President Joe Biden. Sanders leads with 30 percent support nationally, followed by Biden with 19 percent and Bloomberg at 17 percent.

The 3-point drop for Bloomberg was the largest of any candidate.

IN FIRST POST-DEBATE NATIONAL POLL: #Bloomberg Sees Popularity Drop Following His Debate Debut –>

Among all Dem primary voters, his net favorability — the share w favorable views minus those w unfavorable views — fell 20 points since pre-debate poll. https://t.co/acmTcBVMtH pic.twitter.com/nVdP3FeA4y

— Morning Consult (@MorningConsult) February 21, 2020