Bloomberg’s entrapped by lefty faux racism: I shouldn’t have called Cory Booker ‘well-spoken’

Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg voiced his regret after being criticized for what was seen as a patronizing remark about Sen. Cory Booker.

The 2020 Democratic presidential candidate was called out after his compliment of the New Jersey lawmaker as “well-spoken” was taken as a racially condescending remark.

(Video: Twitter)

“I probably shouldn’t have used the word,” Bloomberg said at a campaign event in Georgia, noting that he and his current 2020 rival endorsed each other in their local runs for office, campaigned for each other and have “stayed friends.”

“But I can just tell you he is a friend of mine, and he is a Rhodes Scholar, which is much more impressive than my academic background. I envy him, and he can certainly speak for himself,” the billionaire added.

Bloomberg made his original comment about Booker during an interview on “CBS This Morning” which aired on Friday.

“Cory Booker endorsed me a number of times, and I endorsed Cory Booker a number of times. He’s very well-spoken, he’s got some good ideas,” he told Gayle King, noting that with the pool of 2020 Democratic candidates, “it would be better the more diverse any group is, but the public is out there picking and choosing and narrowing down this field.”

Though it wasn’t clear that Bloomberg intended his comment to be offensive to Booker, his use of the phrase was slammed by those who pointed out its racial undertones.

Booker responded to the remarks during an interview Friday on SiriusXM radio show “Signal Boost.”

“I was taken aback by it,” the former Newark mayor said.

“I’ll say this, you know, Mike and I have known each other for a long time,” Booker added, noting the former mayor’s support for him when he was the mayor of Newark and Bloomberg was New York City’s mayor from 2006 to 2013.

“It’s sort of stunning at times that we are still revisiting these sort of tired tropes or the language we have out there that I don’t think folks understand,” Booker said in a radio interview that he shared on Twitter. “The fact that they don’t understand is problematic.”

“I have a great deal of regard for him as somebody who helped me help the city of Newark,” Booker said. “I’m sure Mike gets it now, I hope, and I hope people around him are talking to him about why that plays into what is, for the black community in particular, just these are signs of frustration that we continue to deal with.”

In another interview, Booker noted again that he considers Bloomberg a “friend who’s been there for me.”

Though he did not mention Bloomberg by name, Booker did complain about the “billionaires in the race” in reaction to Sen. Kamala Harris dropping out of the race.

“I don’t understand how we’ve gotten to this place where there’s more billionaires in the race than there are black people,” Booker said during a BuzzFeed News interview.

While many jumped on Bloomberg for his initial “well-spoken” remark about Booker, some Twitter users offered a different perspective.

DONATE TO BIZPAC REVIEW

Please help us! If you are fed up with letting radical big tech execs, phony fact-checkers, tyrannical liberals and a lying mainstream media have unprecedented power over your news please consider making a donation to BPR to help us fight them. Now is the time. Truth has never been more critical!

Success! Thank you for donating. Please share BPR content to help combat the lies.
Frieda Powers

Comment

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.

BPR INSIDER COMMENTS

Scroll down for non-member comments or join our insider conversations by becoming a member. We'd love to have you!

Latest Articles