Hill.TV host Krystal Ball warned Thursday that billionaire candidates, such as Tom Steyer and Michael Bloomberg, could threaten to upend the Democratic presidential primary race and set a bad precedent.
“Just take a look again at those ad spend dollars,” Ball said referring to multimedia buys of Steyer and Bloomberg.
“Even the most committed capitalist ought to realize that if you want to have a country where you can prosper and flourish this type of world-historic inequality and ability to brazenly buy our elections, [it] is deeply corrosive and destructive to civil society,” she added.
Both Bloomberg and Steyer, who have each spent at least $100 million, have faced accusations that they’re trying to buy the nomination.
Last month, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a top progressive in the 2020 race, accused Bloomberg of trying to use his money to influence the election.
“Michael Bloomberg is making a bet about democracy in 2020,” Warren said shortly after Bloomberg officially announced his candidacy. “He doesn’t need people. He only needs bags and bags of money.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), another progressive candidate, also spoke out against Bloomberg’s entry into the race, saying billionaires like him are “not going to get very far in this election.”
Steyer, meanwhile, has pushed back against these accusations, saying he doesn’t think it’s possible to buy the president.
Bloomberg has addressed concerns about his wealth by announcing that he will self-fund his campaign and reject donations. The former New York city mayor also announced this week he also plans to donate $10 million to reelection campaigns of vulnerable Democratic House members.
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