Bloomberg apologizes for stop and frisk, vows to win over Californians by tackling poverty

Michael Bloomberg is banking his presidential campaign on the idea that an “evolutionary rather than revolutionary” message will resonate with Californian voters.

The former New York City mayor, who has vowed to skip the four states with the earliest primaries, told reporters in Stockton on Wednesday that he will focus his attention on California as its March 3, 2020 primary nears.

“Why do I think California would vote for somebody like me? Because Californians understand nothing’s simple,” Bloomberg said. “You have to have real solutions, and you have to have evolutionary, rather than revolutionary change. This is a great state. It’s got a great economy. It doesn’t want to throw away what it has. It just wants to make it more available to more people. … There’s no reason why I can’t explain to people what I want to do.”

He barnstormed from Stockton to San Francisco, picking up an endorsement from Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs and gaining a commitment for an appearance with former Gov. Jerry Brown.

“We have to have a candidate with the record, resources and relationships to not just make sure we beat Donald Trump but make sure something like Donald Trump never happens again,” Tubbs said.

In Stockton, Bloomberg unveiled a housing plan that would increase the number of Section 8 housing vouchers and expand access to the federal program designed to offer poorer Americans a subsidy to cover their housing costs.

Bloomberg also said his administration would offer incentives for the construction of more shelters and supportive housing. He said he’d reward cities that build more affordable housing units by creating “a major new source of funding if they eliminate restrictions on zoning, particularly near transit areas”

Lukewarm on universal basic income

He spoke in a city made famous by its 18-month universal basic income pilot program, an anti-poverty initiative that provides $500 a month to 125 residents with no strings attached.

“I do support it,” Bloomberg told reporters when asked why he hadn’t mentioned universal basic income.

But he quickly undermined that by saying New York had an unsuccessful program that awarded certain people cash grants.

“In New York, we tried something where we had a cash grant for doing the right thing in families. We copied the program from Mexico, where it was very successful,” Bloomberg said. “Unfortunately, it did not work in New York because we have so many other programs going on at the same time. So we stopped it and used the money for something else.”

Tubbs said after the event that an earned income tax credit expansion Bloomberg is calling for would essentially be “giving cash to people.”

Tubbs said he’s had private discussions with Bloomberg where the former New York City mayor has appeared “open to the conversation” of universal basic income.

Answering for ‘stop and frisk’

Bloomberg has also faced sharp criticism for the stop and frisk policing policies he adopted while serving as New York City’s mayor. At the event, he apologized for a policy Tubbs called “terrible.”

“The policy we had, I’ve apologized for because, in the end, it turned out we could’ve done something different,” Bloomberg said. “But people want results. I don’t think there’s anybody in California that doesn’t think the objective of bringing down the murder rate, particularly in poor communities, isn’t a good idea.”

Since declaring his candidacy, Bloomberg has used his net worth of $57 billion to purchase multi-million-dollar advertisements, particularly in California. He’s come under fire from Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and several other Democrats who accuse him of trying to buy his way onto the stage.

Bloomberg expressed his understanding of issues poor Americans are facing by saying a gallon of milk costs $5.

“I cooked for about three years all my own meals,” he added. “It was good food. I liked it. I overburnt my french toast, but that’s another issue.”

Samantha Zager, a spokeswoman for a joint fundraising committee for the Trump campaign and Republican National Committee called Bloomberg “out of touch” and criticized his decision to appear in San Francisco later in the day.

“Bloomberg was out of touch as mayor of New York, he’s out of touch now as a presidential candidate, and Californians won’t accept another politician promising the same awful ideas that have led cities like San Francisco into decline,” Zager said in a statement.

Tubbs defended Bloomberg’s heavy campaign spending, insisting that it takes a lot of money to defeat President Donald Trump.

Tubbs claimed Trump has “$300 million in the bank” to work with, though the president’s campaign reported having $83.2 million in available cash by the end of September.

“We should have a policy debate after 2020 about how we finance elections,” Tubbs said. “Whoever the nominee is, they’re going to have some money behind them because that’s the only way to get the message out. Mayor Bloomberg’s not just relying on money. He’s not here in Stockton for money. He’s here to connect with people who usually aren’t on (the minds of) presidential campaigns.”

This story was originally published December 11, 2019 at 4:08 PM.