Chris Stirewalt on why Mike Bloomberg might be hoping he doesn't qualify for the next Democratic debate
Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg will be a piñata for rival 2020 contenders to take a shot at on the debate stage, says Chris Stirewalt, Fox News politics editor.
Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg may not be as fervently interested in making it onto the Nevada debate stage, Fox News' Chris Stirewalt said Monday.
Stirewalt said on "Bill Hemmer Reports" that as divided as the Democrats have been, the party has been united on at least one major front -- none of the top candidates have been fans of the media mogul.
"They really don’t like him. That's one thing you've got from Biden to Bernie. They can all agree that they don't like Mike Bloomberg," he said.
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"If he goes on the debate stage this week, he's just a pinata for everybody to take a swack at."
Stirewalt suggested that Bloomberg should not be too upset if he does not receive a qualifying poll result before the cutoff.
Bill Hemmer pointed to a clip of former Vice President Joe Biden calling out Bloomberg during an NBC News interview. "$60 billion can buy you a lot of advertising. It can't erase your record," Biden told "Meet the Press."
Turning to Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and his rise in the polls over the past several weeks, Stirewalt said the democratic socialist likely has enjoyed the widespread narrative that the Democrats were treating him unfairly.
"The narrative Bernie Sanders wants is that he's a victim of a powerful Democratic Party and a powerful media elite... That's good," he said.
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"The reality is, most Democrats don't want Bernie Sanders and most Democrats are fearful about what would happen down-ballot if you put a socialist of the top of the ticket."
The Bloomberg campaign confirmed to Fox News later Monday that if the 78-year-old were to qualify, he will participate in Wednesday's Las Vegas debate.
Fox News' Bill Hemmer and Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.
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