(Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)
(CNSNews.com) – Kellyanne Conway, counselor to President Donald Trump, told “Fox News Sunday” that the way that former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg treated his female employees is “problematic.”
She also criticized Bloomberg for his comments about the black community, the way he implemented the stop-and-frisk policy and his comments about housing.
“The war of words is between Michael Bloomberg and the African-American community. The way he feels about people is so demeaning. The policy may have been stop and frisk, but the philosophy was to castigate and denigrate people of color, and it’s a disgrace,” Conway said.
Fox News host Chris Wallace pointed out that as a candidate, Trump supported what Bloomberg did with stop and frisk during the first debate with Hillary Clinton in 2016. Wallace asked how stop and frisk had a tremendous impact then but it’s racist now.
Trump is “toying with everybody by saying. oh, had he said something like that and you unearthed videotape like that of him, everybody would say racist, racist, but look at all the people who are saying, you know what? I think Michael Bloomberg learned his lesson. He’s apologized. That was so long ago,” Conway said.
“Chris, it was a few years ago as mayor of New York, and it wasn’t just stop and frisk. He said redlining, canceling redlining started the financial crisis. The African-American community weren’t the perpetrators of that financial crisis. Many of them were the victims. What is he talking about? This billionaire who’s made this life’s wealth in the financial services industry is now saying that,” she said.
“It’s not that Michael Bloomberg was burning a bra or burning a flag at Woodstock. He said this several years ago, a few short years ago as mayor of New York, and it’s the way he said it. He said you can basically Xerox a description of male minorities between the ages of 16 and 25 and hand it over to the cops,” Conway said.
Bloomberg is “somebody who looks at people beneath him differently, and we can’t have that.”
“I cannot believe all the prominent African-Americans I’ve seen publicly say I think we can support Bloomberg because after all he’s electable. He’s the one who can beat Donald Trump. Electability was the calling card for Hillary Clinton four years ago, for Joe Biden this entire year,” Conway said.
“Electability means nothing if the person looks at a large constituency of your electorate let alone this country that way. Look at what he said about women. I mean all this comment about women and lawsuits,” she said.
Wallace asked Conway about a Washington Post article that said Bloomberg is being sued by former female employees who alleged that the billionaire made sexist and lewd comments towards them. He asked whether Trump can make an issue out of it given the president has made sexist comments himself.
Conway: It should be an issue here and now, today. You don’t have to wait for an election to be offended by the fact that Michael Bloomberg, according to other Bloomberg employees, said to a woman who announced she was pregnant as she’s being congratulated by her coworkers, are you going to kill it?
This is a woman who relied upon her employment, relied upon Michael Bloomberg for her employment and one would imagine her maternity benefits as she found out the good news. The comments he’s made about women, the Washington Post had to bleep out some of the actual words. The comments he’s made about women, the lawsuits, that is all fair game, and It’s fair game because we want to know the person behind the half a billion dollars worth of ads.
Wallace: Is it fair game for President Trump when he’s made sexist comments, too?
Conway: Oh please. First of all, I’ve been working by his side for four years. He’s the best boss I’ve ever had.
Wallace: Plenty of women who would say the same thing about Michael Bloomberg.
Conway: Let them come forward, but are they getting paid to say it?
Wallace: Is this any worse than the Access Hollywood tapes?
Conway: It’s far worse, oh my goodness, and by the way, that was fully litigated. That happened on October 7th. He won a month later.
Wallace: That does not mean it’s not an issue.
Conway: No. If you’re going to do that, you know what? I will take that on any time. I will take a leave of absence from the White House and talk all day long about that stuff. Let me tell you something. The way Michael Bloomberg treated female employees who were under his wing, who were relying on him for their livelihood, for their health benefits, for their 401ks, to have created that kind of culture, that unsafe workplace, to feel that you’re being harassed because of your gender, that is problematic, and I think you’re going to hear more of it.
The other thing is I don’t understand how the Democratic Party is going to sit back and take it. Is it really worth it to this Democratic Party, in the age of the me top movement, black lives matter. You had the first African-American president. You have completely squeezed out and spat out the presidents of color this time, Cory Booker, Julian Castro, Kamala Harris, out of the race. You’re left with a bunch of white people, old white people at that with the exception of your next guest Mayor Buttigieg.
And you’re going to go backwards because Michael Bloomberg will spend money and will insult Donald Trump? That’s why the Bernie voters are not going to take that. I predict. He’ll keep winning contests. He’s like President Trump in the fact he’d got a committed base who aren’t going to go elsewhere.
Voters care about what affects them. There’s a big difference. Voters talk about what offends them, but they vote on what affects them. They have a big decision to make. If you want to elevate somebody who has treated people that they’re less than him, people of color and women, that’s a big decision to make. It is a serious consequence in 2020 when our country has had such great progress.
