- In his bid to win the Democratic nomination for the 2020 presidential election, Mike Bloomberg has spent more than $400 million on radio, TV, and digital ads.
- Most recently, Bloomberg’s campaign has paid for billboards that ridicule Donald Trump for cheating at golf, his properties going bankrupt six times, and liking his steak “burnt.”
- Here are all the iterations of the Bloomberg campaign’s latest ad blitz, which coincides with significant events happening in Las Vegas and Phoenix.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Presidential hopeful Mike Bloomberg is slamming Donald Trump for allegedly eating burnt steak and cheating at golf in his campaign’s latest deluge of advertisements.
Ahead of this weekend’s Nevada caucus, splashy billboards were spotted Friday in two cities in the West. The billboards – of which there are six versions, at least so far – are the latest strategy from Bloomberg’s campaign to try to turn the former New York City mayor into a top contender for the Democratic nomination.
Since launching his campaign in November, Bloomberg has spent big.
He’s poured in $415 million on ads across TV, radio, Facebook, and Google – more than the four other leading Democratic candidates have spent combined. His campaign has flooded several social media platforms with its “unconventional” approach, paying for memes to get posted to Instagram and sending bizarre messages on Twitter about meatballs and New York City-based chain Big Gay Ice Cream.
Although Bloomberg is yet to lead in polling, he and his campaign are taking aim at Trump instead of other Democratic nominees in the race.
The locations of the massive billboards, seen so far in Las Vegas and Phoenix, are purposeful. While Phoenix was the stage for a Trump rally this week, Las Vegas was recently home to a Democratic debate - the first one in which Bloomberg qualified for a spot onstage. Trump was also in Las Vegas on Friday, and the Nevada caucuses for Democrats take place Saturday.
Here are six versions of the Bloomberg advertisements roasting Trump that have appeared in the West:
Many stories have circulated about Trump cheating at golf, and a recent book called "Commander in Cheat" outlined the ways the president has bent the rules on the course. "Golf reveals a lot of ugliness in this president," sportswriter Rick Reilly says in his book.
Source: The Guardian
Another ad pointed out that although Trump won the necessary electoral votes to win the 2016 presidential election, he lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton.
Source: CNN
Donald Trump once owned several casinos in Atlantic City, New Jersey, including the Trump Taj Mahal. Despite boasting about his success, Trump was in charge as two of those casinos amassed debt and went bankrupt.
Source: New York Times
The claim that Trump-related properties have gone bankrupt six times has been fact-checked often — and verified as true. Five Trump-owned properties went bankrupt between 1991 and 2009. One establishment, Trump Hotels and Casinos Resorts, went bankrupt twice.
Source: Washington Post
Just last month, a piece of Trump's wall at the US-Mexico border collapsed. Police blamed the fall on heavy winds.
Source: Business Insider
A longtime butler at Mar-a-Logo told the New York Times in 2016 about Trump's steak preferences: "It would rock on the plate, it was so well done." At a dinner in 2017, Trump covered his steak — also well-done — in ketchup.
https://twitter.com/Mike2020/status/1230924887809757184?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Source: New York Times, Eater