Former New York City Democratic presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg is waving to his supporters at his Super Tuesday night event on March 3, 2020 in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Joe Raedle | Getty Images
Billionaire former presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg is set to speak at the Democratic National Convention next week, as party leaders question when he will start big to back Joe Biden’s presidential campaign.
A Bloomberg spokeswoman confirmed to CNBC that he will be a featured speaker at the virtual convention starting on Monday. Bloomberg, a former mayor of New York, has been a vocal supporter of Biden’s since his own withdrawal from the Democratic primary in March.
A conventional official told CNBC that Bloomberg intends to address President Donald Trump in his speech and specifically address his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. He will make the case that Trump has treated the economy badly – and that he has made the economic crisis worse in the way he has treated the spread of Covid-19. His remarks will include how he thinks Biden is the leader the country needs to get through the ongoing pandemic.
Bloomberg also has plans to mark his work with Biden and President Barack Obama during his time as mayor of New York, while emphasizing the dealings of the former vice president with the 2008-09 financial crisis.
The speech will take place next Thursday, which is the last day of the convention.
That development comes because Bloomberg’s allies have talked to him about when and where he will make his next major investment to support Biden.
“My feeling is that he’s supportive but not yet fully involved,” a friend of Bloomberg’s told CNBC. “A lot of verbal abuse,” said another.
After spending $ 1 billion on his own campaign, which won only 60 delegates, CNBC reported in May that Bloomberg was constantly working with his advisers and colleagues to figure out where his big spending spree for Biden would go.
Since then, Federal Election Commission data show he has given nothing to Biden’s campaign or to political action committees that support Biden’s candidacy. Many people close to him, including those who have spoken with either team or with Bloomberg himself, now say the timing of his future contributions is fluid. The first some believe he will start giving Biden great is after the convention itself.
“I urge him to come forward and do it,” longtime Democratic donor Bernard Schwartz told CNBC. “For whatever reason he has also been very quiet during this period.”
Schwartz, who says he has known Bloomberg for years, expects the business titan to start making major contributions to Biden after the convention.
Others, who often spoke on the condition of anonymity because these conversations were considered private, were not so convinced that big money would come from Bloomberg right after the convention.
“I’ve seen a lot of people say really good things, but I did not hear that it drove Mike to do anything. That said, I think it’s coming to a s – t or coming from the potty node, said a confidant of Bloomberg.
Bloomberg, who has a net worth of more than $ 54 billion, said he spent everything it cost to defeat President Donald Trump. He ended up handing over $ 18 million to the Democratic National Committee shortly after he dropped out of the race. Representatives of Bloomberg told the NPR that he has already spent more than $ 350 million on Democrats’ efforts to take over the commander.
Those investments include $ 35 million in its own digital platform, Hawkfish, which recently signed a contract with pro-Biden super PAC American Bridge and apparently signed a deal with another pro-Biden group, Unite the Country.
Democrats are still wondering when and how much Bloomberg plans to spend in just under 90 days until November.
Others who want to speak at the virtual convention include Obama, former First Lady Michelle Obama, former Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, former President Bill Clinton, Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, and rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Bloomberg also spoke at the 2016 Democratic National Convention in support of then-nominee Hillary Clinton.
A note sent to Bloomberg’s supporters said he will speak this year about “why we have the best candidate to meet today’s challenges and get big things done.” Bloomberg recently wrote a glowing piece of advice on the ticket of Biden and his newly announced running mate, sen. Kamala Harris.
A representative for the convention did not return a request for comment.
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