Democratic presidential candidate and former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg waves after speaking at a campaign event, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
Mike Bloomberg has a lot of money. With it, he can buy a lot of ads to make himself look good.
Of course, the ads area include a healthy dose of falsehood and exaggeration. Running praise from Barack Obama to suggest Obama endorsed him which took some people in. Claiming he led NYC through 9/11 when he wasn’t even the Mayor at the time.
But despite all that, he has yet to have that translate into any electoral success because he has skipped out on the primary contest so far and he bombed out in the one debate he did.
He’s made a concerted effort to turn his back on policies that he once championed including “stop and frisk” in order to solicit black voters, a critical constituency he would need to have any hope.
But he was rebuffed rather decisively at the Brown Chapel AME Church in Selma on Sunday where he went to pitch his campaign.
According to Reuters, the pastor, Rev. Leodis Strong informed the congregation Bloomberg had originally turned down the invitation there to speak. That didn’t go over well. “I was hurt, I was disappointed,” Strong said as Bloomberg looked on stonily. But Strong did say Bloomberg’s willingness to finally show up showed a “willingness on his part to change.”
But some in the congregation weren’t buying that and about ten minutes into Bloomberg’s spiel to them, several members got up and turned their backs on him, making it clear they weren’t buying what he was selling them.
A group of churchgoers turned their backs in protest as Democratic presidential hopeful Michael Bloomberg spoke about racial inequality during a service at the historic Brown Chapel AME Church in Selma, Alabama https://t.co/hmi7slRJSa pic.twitter.com/aqegJllPac
— Reuters (@Reuters) March 1, 2020
Some Brown AME church attendees are turning their backs to Mike Bloomberg. More are joining. pic.twitter.com/gTAaTNiew1
— Vanita Gupta (@vanitaguptaCR) March 1, 2020
That’s a pretty powerful picture and something that doesn’t bode well for Bloomberg who already is deep in the weeds when it comes to finding any way to the nomination.
There’s only so much you can buy with money and credibility is one thing he hasn’t bought yet.
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