Billionaire Mike Bloomberg has a problem with racism. His well-documented stop-and-frisk policy in New York City led him to apologize for and disavow his actions so he could run for president. But the audio of a speech he delivered after his time as mayor indicate his motivations for going after minorities were based on premises that are anathema to the modern Democratic Party.
At a speaking engagement with the Aspen Institute in 2015, he had some very harsh words to justify not only stop-and-frisk but all of his policies geared towards stopping violent crime. But those words were only heard by around 400 attendees because he requested video of the event to not be released. This is extremely important to understand because it means he recognized at the time he was talking about putting most police officers in minority neighborhoods that his ideas wouldn’t be popular with Democrats. When he says today that his ideas have evolved, how can anyone possibly believe him knowing he was aware how unpopular his perspectives would be even when he was espousing them?
Michael Bloomberg blocks footage of Aspen Institute appearance
“95% of murders—murderers and murder victims—fit one M.O.,” he started. “You can just take the description, Xerox it and pass it out to all the cops. They are male minorities 16-25. That’s true in New York. It’s true in virtually every city.”
Democrats have long decried the statistics and insinuations Bloomberg has made throughout his life regarding crime. They believe in a kinder, gentler style of law enforcement that is more community oriented and that ignores race altogether. Bloomberg’s policies of flooding minority neighborhoods with law enforcement officers run contrary to what modern day Democrats believe. Then, there’s this gem that will not get Democrats excited.
Mike Bloomberg defending Stop-and-Frisk in 2013: “I think we disproportionately stop whites too much and minorities too little.” pic.twitter.com/KpdKgUALsL
— ً (@upmtn) February 11, 2020
Supporters of Bernie Sanders, including progressive movement leader Benjamin Dixon who released this video, will do what they can to push this video out to Democrats. But it’s unlikely mainstream media will give them any assistance as Bloomberg seems to be the chosen one this election cycle that the DNC is going to promote once Joe Biden completes his self-destruction.
Billions of dollars can buy you lots of things. It has bought Mike Bloomberg a serious chance at the Democratic nomination. It’s even buying him Instagram support. But it can’t always buy silence, especially with videos like this one in circulation.
