Gingrich on Bloomberg's dramatic rise to the Democrat debate stage
2020 Democrat hopeful Michael Bloomberg qualifies for the next primary debate in Las Vegas, Nevada; former House speaker and Fox News contributor Newt Gingrich reacts.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said on Tuesday that billionaire former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg could become the Democratic Party nominee - and possibly the president - solely by spending his own fortune.
“Bloomberg just came in with so much cash, that it made any place irrelevant, and if he’s willing to double-down and triple-down, he could easily spend over a billion dollars just to get to the nomination,” Gingrich told “Fox & Friends.”
BLOOMBERG QUALIFIES FOR LAS VEGAS DEBATE WITH LAST-MINUTE POLL
Gingrich said that Bloomberg’s expenditure on digital campaigning may not suffice to win the nomination due to past controversial comments that were made.
“Advertising at some point ceases to lose its effectiveness --you see your 300th ad, you kind of get it and as other people surface things he said, the question becomes authenticity, and the American people are pretty educated about whether TV commercials are phony and when they’re real,” Gingrich said.
Gingrich’s comments came after Bloomberg qualified for the Nevada Democratic presidential primary debate at the last minute, notching 19 percent support in a Marist, Newshour and NPR/PBS poll, the fourth national poll to put him above the 10 percent mark since Jan. 15. That means the billionaire, who has spent more than $400 million of his fortune on advertising, meets the polling threshold set by the DNC for the debate.
Bloomberg will be on the debate stage, his campaign confirmed in a statement.
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Gingrich estimated that Bloomberg is worth $62-64 billion dollars.
“He could spend 10 percent - $6 billion - because he wants to be president, and he hates Trump, and the combination is a motivator,” Gingrich said.
“You have this billionaire over here who is just literally carpet-bombing states --a place like Arkansas or Oklahoma. He’s probably putting more money into those two states than the entire Buttigieg campaign so far,” he added.
Fox News' Kelly Phares, Tyler Olson contributed to this report.
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