Webb: Bloomberg is committing a 'hostile takeover' of the DNC
Michael Bloomberg is reportedly quietly plotting a strategy for a brokered Democrat convention; Fox News contributor David Webb reacts.
Following the Democratic primary debate in Nevada, Fox News contributor David Webb on Friday explained how former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been plotting to “take over” the Democratic National Committee since the midterm elections in 2018.
“[The Democrats] have a split party, they actually have the Bloomberg effort and the Bernie Sanders effort. Joe Biden is irrelevant to this. He’s gone,” Webb said on “Outnumbered.”
He argued that the billionaire has been "allocating capital" for years, building support and setting up his organization in order to win the nomination.
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“It’s a hostile takeover of the Democratic National Committee,” Webb said. “He gives $106,500 -- three checks, one day -- to them in November [in 2019]. What has he done? He’s building his infrastructure.”
The DNC last month unveiled new criteria for candidates to qualify for the Feb. 19 presidential nomination debate in Nevada. The DNC dropped the requirement that a candidate demonstrate sufficient donor support, and said that to be eligible for the debate, candidates had to earn at least one delegate to the national convention in July in the Iowa caucuses or New Hampshire primary, or earn a certain level of support in polls in January and February.
The change paved the way for Bloomberg to make the debate stage for the first time.
The move by the DNC was quickly criticized by a number of Bloomberg’s rivals for the nomination, among them Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.
And the move comes two months after Bloomberg contributed more than $300,000 to the DNC. Federal Election Commission records indicate that Bloomberg made three separate donations of $106,500 to the national party committee on Nov. 19, five days before he declared his candidacy for president.
Webb said that Bloomberg has been allocating his capital to build his campaign staff and has been "buying up inventory" in digital, radio and television ads.
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The Bloomberg campaign’s latest Federal Election Commission report reveals that the former New York City mayor has spent more than $460 million since launching his campaign late last year. The FEC report showed that the campaign has $55.1 million cash-on-hand, compared with Sanders’ $16.8 million.
The progressive senator Sanders has been enjoying a surge in the polls in recent weeks, including an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released Tuesday that showed him with a national double-digit lead -- 27 percent of support, which is well ahead of former Vice President Joe Biden and Bloomberg, who earned just 15 and 14 percent, respectively.
Bloomberg will now have to bounce back from a widely panned debate performance Wednesday in Nevada.
"Bloomberg thinks he's the smartest guy in New York City. Obviously, he thinks Trump's one of the stupidest and dumbest. And if Trump can do it, he can do it," radio host Rush Limbaugh said. "And last night, Bloomberg demonstrated that he doesn't have the foggiest idea what he is doing."
Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.
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