MSNBC Pundits Fret Over Bloomberg Being Called an “Oligarch”

Just before the chaotic and still-unresolved Iowa caucuses began, another messy exchange kicked off on MSNBC. Speaking to host Chris Matthews, Nina Turner, the national co-chair for Vermont senator Bernie Sanders's presidential campaign, said that voters were concerned about "oligarchs" buying their way into elections. Turner was talking specifically about Michael Bloomberg, the former New York mayor and current presidential candidate. Matthews, clearly taken aback, asked, "Do you think Mike Bloomberg is an oligarch?"

"He is," Turner replied without hesitation. "He skipped Iowa. Iowans should be insulted. Buying his way into this race, period. The DNC changed the rules. They didn’t change it for Senator Harris. They didn’t change it for Senator Booker. They didn’t change it for Secretary Castro."

Bloomberg currently has a net worth of more than $60 billion, thanks to a $10 million severance he got from a Wall Street firm that he used to found the financial company Bloomberg LP. Since November, Bloomberg has dropped nearly $250 million on his campaign, by far outspending all of the other candidates. His strategy rests on ignoring the first handful of primary states and going all-in on Super Tuesday states like delegate-rich California. Last week, the Democratic National Committee eliminated its individual donor requirements for candidates to qualify for the upcoming debate, effectively clearing the way for Bloomberg to make the cut. The DNC didn't show the same leniency at the last debate, when the requirements kept all nonwhite candidates off the stage.

MSNBC contributor and editor at The Root Jason Johnson took great exception to Turner's use of the word "oligarch": "Calling Mike Bloomberg an oligarch has implications in this country that I think are unfair and unreasonable. I disagree with a lot of things Mike Bloomberg has done as a mayor. Oligarchy in our particular terminology makes you think of a rich person who got their money off of oil in Russia, who is taking advantage of a broken and dysfunctional system."

Except for the specific details about oil and Russia, Bloomberg would still be an oligarch even by Johnson's rather specific definition. Campaign financing in the U.S. is dysfunctional and undemocratic, with the wealthy free to pour as much money as they want into the campaigns of their preferred candidates—or, in Bloomberg's case, into his own campaign. And when norms and regulations ran into his ambition, he scrapped them. During his time as mayor of New York, he successfully pushed to throw out term limits so he could serve a third time. As Zach Carter of HuffPost put it, "If Bloomberg is not an oligarch then there are no oligarchs."

But Johnson wasn't done: "Mike Bloomberg is just a rich guy. Just because you’re rich doesn’t mean that you’re an oligarch that abuses power. The power that Mike Bloomberg got access to was given to him by the voters of New York." He continued, "It ain’t the kind of language you should be using. I think it’s dismissive, unfair, and it's the kind of thing that blows up in your face if you become the nominee and you have to work with Mike Bloomberg three or four months from now. That’s the issue Sanders people never seem to want to remember."

Turner replied that it was remarkable to her that "somebody would defend the wealthiest people in this country over the working people in this country." She continued, "That is the same message Bernie Sanders has to the everyday people of this nation, that I welcome the hatred of the elites because I am standing up for you. So cry me a river for the wealthiest."

Facing criticism online for his hairsplitting defense of Bloomberg, Johnson doubled down, arguing on Twitter that he was making a point about political messaging: "Oligarchs are evil businessmen who oppress the masses. Good luck convincing people Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos are Oligarchs even if they fit the textbook definition."

Bloomberg's cash blitzkrieg seems to be producing some results. He's tied with Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren for third place in national polls, according to a poll that came out Monday, just hours after Bloomberg ran a campaign ad during the Super Bowl, which cost roughly $10 million.

Americans are working more and producing more wealth, but the benefits are going to the already rich—including affecting how long they live.

Originally Appeared on GQ