Still, I suspect the speech that will have the strongest impact on undecided voters will be the one delivered by former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who made it clear he disagrees with Hillary Clinton on some issues but will vote for her anyway because a Donald Trump presidency would be catastrophic.
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“I understand the appeal of a businessman president, but Trump’s plan is a disaster in the making”, Bloomberg said.
Bloomberg, elected mayor of New York City as a Republican, will offer a forceful denunciation of fellow New York billionaire Donald Trump on Wednesday, July 27, 2016, at the Democratic convention. “I know Hillary Clinton is not flawless”. But at a time when some supporters of Bernie Sanders talk openly about not supporting Clinton-and apathy for her campaign more broadly threatens to doom her candidacy-Bloomberg pleaded with independents and disillusioned Democrats not to make the ideal the enemy of the good.
“Hillary Clinton understands this isn’t reality television”, he said.
Trump did not immediately respond to the speech.
“Most of us don’t pretend that we’re smart enough to make every big decision by ourselves”, he said.
Bloomberg, who followed the tenure of Trump backer Rudy Giuliani as mayor, praised Clinton’s leadership in the wake of 9/11.
On Wednesday, they had the same effect for Bloomberg among Democrats as they have had for Trump among Republicans: Applause and raucous laughter. “He will lay out why voters can not trust Trump to ensure our economic future”, an adviser said. “No candidate is. But she is the right choice and the responsible choice in this election”.
At the DNC, Mr. Bloomberg will be speaking “from the perspective of a business leader and an independent”, said Howard Wolfson, a senior adviser to Mr. Bloomberg.
At the Davenport rally, Trump continued to say, “I was gonna hit a number of those speakers so hard their heads would spin, they’d never recover…”
Bloomberg also criticized Trump as a “dangerous demagogue” and a “risky, reckless and radical choice” for the country. A billionaire New Yorker and political novice who captured the Republican nomination and rode it to victory stood in front of the crowd and asked it not to allow another billionaire New Yorker to do the same.
“Truth be told, the richest thing about Donald Trump is his hypocrisy”, he said.
Trump, 70, who often boasts about his extravagant wealth and success in the real estate business, is listed 113th with $4.5 billion, though that figure has been widely challenged.
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The dueling New Yorkers had a cordial relationship throughout Bloomberg’s run as mayor.
