With less than three months to go before the Iowa caucus kicks off the 2020 race, the field may be getting some new competition. Former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg is said to be preparing to enter the race, which would make him the 18th Democratic candidate.
But some of the remaining contenders may think an expanding field of candidates is a move in the wrong direction. Cory Booker’s press secretary, Sabrina Singh, told Cheddar on Friday, “I don’t know that the campaign needs another Democrat in the race.”
But another Democrat it may have, and a very wealthy one. Bloomberg, worth about $52.4 billion, according to a Forbes estimate, could be a major threat to former Vice President Joe Biden.
Singh said, “We really need someone out there that can unite the country, that can build a multiracial coalition.” Some, including Singh, question if Bloomberg is the man for that job.
Bloomberg had toyed with the idea of a 2020 run earlier this year but seemed to bow out due to Biden’s strength. As Biden falters, Bloomberg may see a chance.
Singh said the Booker campaign is mainly focused more on running a successful campaign, whether or not another contender enters the mix.
”What Cory [Booker] brings to the stage is very different than what Bloomberg brings,” said Singh. Booker “is the only candidate in this race that still lives in a low-income community: Newark” she added.
“We’re not going to mold our message to Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, Elizabeth Warren,” she said. “We’re going to keep running a race that we believe, that we are very confident in and see our way through Iowa and beyond.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has extended the closure of bars and indoor dining statewide and has ordered gyms, churches and hair salons closed in most places as coronavirus cases keep rising.
The United States is grappling with the worst coronavirus outbreak in the world, as Florida shattered the national record for a state’s largest single-day increase in new confirmed cases with a reported 15,299.
Julian Castro, former secretary of Housing & Urban Development, talks about the importance of stable housing for Americans. Castro also dissects former VP Joe Biden's plan to combat the housing crisis.
The federal government incurred the biggest monthly budget deficit in history in June as spending on programs to combat the coronavirus recession exploded while millions of job losses cut into tax revenues.
A spokeswoman says the first lady is focused on being a mother and a wife, and serving the country.
The U.S. Roman Catholic Church used a special and unprecedented exemption from federal rules to amass at least $1.4 billion in taxpayer-backed coronavirus aid, with many millions going to dioceses that have paid huge settlements or sought bankruptcy protection because of clergy sexual abuse cover-ups.
Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP, talked about the discussions with Facebook's leadership surrounding hate speech and misinformation.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio grabbed a roller Thursday to paint Black Lives Matter in front of the namesake Manhattan tower of President Donald Trump.
The Supreme Court has issued a mixed verdict on demands for President Donald Trump’s financial records.
More than a decade after the term was coined by columnist Thomas Friedman in the New York Times, there is a Green New Deal proposal in Congress. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) have proposed a formal resolution that would frame climate change, economic sustainability and social justice together under a unifying theme, calling for a Depression-era national mobilization similar to FDR's New Deal, and serving as a litmus test for Democratic presidential candidates going forward.
