Mike Bloomberg has bought three minutes of primetime TV on Sunday night, in order to address the US about the coronavirus outbreak and Donald Trump’s response.
News of the billionaire former New York mayor’s latest campaign advertising outlay, reckoned to be between $1.25m and $3m, was followed by a pair of tweets from the White House.
“Mini Mike Bloomberg’s consultants and so-called ‘advisors’ (how did that advice work out? Don’t ask!), are on the ‘gravy train’,” Trump wrote, “all making a fortune for themselves pushing Mini hard, when they knew he never had what it takes.
“Don’t pay them anymore Mike, they led you down a very dark and lonely path! Your reputation will never be the same!”
Reportedly impressed, if not cowed, by Bloomberg’s personal fortune of around $60bn, Trump was initially said to have urged aides to take seriously the formerly Republican mayor’s campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination.
But despite massive spending Bloomberg has struggled in two Democratic debates and failed to oust Joe Biden as the moderate frontrunner. The key test of his ambitions comes on Tuesday, when 14 states and one territory, American Samoa, will stage primaries.
In the ad which will air on CBS and NBC around 8.30pm ET on Sunday – and which is entitled “Leadership in Crisis” – Bloomberg appears in suit and tie and American flag pin, in front of a background which thanks to more flags and a sunlit window looks not unlike the Oval Office.
“At times like this it is the job of the president to reassure the public that he or she is taking all the necessary steps to protect the health and wellbeing of every citizen,” Bloomberg says.
“The public wants to know their leader is trained, informed and respected. When a problem arises, they want someone in charge who can marshal facts and expertise to confront the problem.”
Bloomberg does not mention Trump and instead touts his experience in public health management while mayor of New York City between 2001 and 2013, which he says included dealing with “a hurricane, a blackout, attempted terror attacks, the West Nile virus and swine flu”.
In response, the Trump campaign said the president was “effectively managing the coronavirus situation and has placed the United States ahead of the curve in its comprehensive response”.
A spokesman added: “Mike Bloomberg is shamelessly politicising the issue and only further exposing himself as an unserious candidate. He’s a joke.”
Trump, who complained at a rally on Friday night that Democrats were perpetrating a “hoax” in seeking to use the outbreak against him, has been accused of politicising the virus himself.
On Sunday his vice-president Mike Pence, the leader of much-criticised White House efforts to contain the outbreak, parried questions about remarks by Trump and key supporters.
The first US death from coronavirus was reported in Washington state on Saturday. According to the World Health Organization, there have been 83,652 cases and nearly 2,800 deaths worldwide. Most are in China but international travel, trade, business and sporting events have been affected. This week saw steep falls on most financial markets.
At the Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland on Saturday, meanwhile, Trump mocked Bloomberg physically.
“We’ve got Mini Mike [Bloomberg] but I think he’s out of it,” said Trump, 73 and reportedly 6ft 3in, about his 78-year-old, 5ft 8in challenger.
“That was probably the worst debate performance in the history of presidential debates. It just shows you can’t buy an election. I mean, there’s a point at which people say, ‘You gotta bring the goods a little bit, too.’”
Trump then pretended to be Bloomberg, crouching behind the lectern to audience laughter and chants of: “Four more years!”
According to the New York Times, on NBC Bloomberg’s ad will run “during Little Big Shots, a variety show featuring child performers hosted by the [actor] Melissa McCarthy”.