As outlets from CNBC to the New York Post to the U.K.‘s Daily Mail played up Saturday’s story, Bloomberg’s campaign downplayed the report, but didn’t deny it.
“We are focused on the primary and the debate, not VP speculation,’ Jason Schechter, the campaign’s communications director, said in a statement.
Drudge also reported that the billionaire was looking to change his residency from New York, where Clinton also resides, to “homes he owns” in Colorado or Florida. Although subject to interpretation, the Constitution’s 12th Amendment states that presidential and vice presidential candidates shall not be an inhabitant of the same state.
By Saturday afternoon, Drudge was linking from his own homepage to the report carried in the Daily Mail citing Drudge’s own as yet unconfirmed scoop.
News of the possible Bloomberg-Clinton ticket drew swift reaction online, with Trumpworld figures relishing the idea.
“I can think of absolutely NOTHING that would make @realDonaldTrump and his supporters happier,” conservative commentator Candace Owens tweeted. “Do it, @HillaryClinton. Make our day.”
Others, including former Trump campaign adviser Jason Miller, threw cold water on the prospect of Bloomberg selecting the Democratic 2016 presidential candidate as his running mate, calling it a “smokescreen” to ensure other Democratic candidates don’t receive attention.
“Crooked would add partisan lightning rod dynamic Bloomberg *currently* avoids in the general,” Miller wrote.
Some also pointed out that Drudge had recently lost some legitimacy in Trumpworld after running a series of stories criticizing the president. Could it be a way to get back onside with the president and his supporters — or was it typical Drudge mischief-making?
Others, meanwhile, noted the report clouded the news cycle after the New York Times and Washington Post released deep-dive stories on Saturday morning that detailed Bloomberg’s philanthropy-for-influence network and history of alleged sexist comments respectively.
By Saturday afternoon, Clinton had not publicly responded to the report.
But earlier this month, Clinton told Ellen DeGeneres in an interview that she “probably” wouldn’t be asked to be a vice presidential candidate. “Never say never,” Clinton said, but “it’s not going to happen.”
Meanwhile, Trump himself has yet to weigh in on two of his pet subjects on Saturday: gossip concerning his erstwhile political nemesis, and his newer rivals on the 2020 trail.
Source: politico.com
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