Editor-in-Chief of Bloomberg News has told reporters in an email that they will now resume their “normal coverage of the election” after founder and gross stakeholder, former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, dropped out of the presidential race on Wednesday.
According to an internal memo obtained by CNBC, the agency lifted its self-imposed ban on reports investigating any of Bloomberg’s 2020 Democratic presidential competitors.
Bloomberg LP, the formal owner of Bloomberg News, extended the gag rule it normally maintains on its billionaire founder to fellow Democratic presidential hopefuls after Bloomberg entered the race for the Democratic presidential nomination in November. Now that he’s dropped out, the editorial policy has also been dropped.
“Now that Mike has said he is leaving the race for President, we will return to our normal coverage of the election; we will follow exactly the same coverage rules for the Democratic presidential candidates,” Micklethwait’s memo to Bloomberg editorial and research staff read.
The internal notice also said that the company will “disclose Mike’s financial support for other Democrats — just as we have always done where his financial support for political causes is relevant to our reporting.”
“As I pointed out back on November 24, we found ourselves in an unprecedented situation: no other newsroom of our size has had to deal with anything similar,” Micklethwait wrote. “Since then, we have written around 1,100 articles on the contest — and that does not include all the broadcast pieces and interviews, nor all the third party articles we have made available to our terminal customers.”
President Trump was not impressed by network’s stipulated code of ethics, venting his contempt on Twitter.
“Mini Mike Bloomberg has instructed his third rate news organization not to investigate him or any Democrat, but to go after President Trump, only. The Failing New York Times thinks that is O.K. because their hatred & bias is so great they can’t even see straight. It’s not O.K.!” he wrote.
Mini Mike Bloomberg has instructed his third rate news organization not to investigate him or any Democrat, but to go after President Trump, only. The Failing New York Times thinks that is O.K., because their hatred & bias is so great they can’t even see straight. It’s not O.K.!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 2, 2019
Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg withdrew from the Democratic presidential race on March 4, hours after finishing well behind in states that voted on Super Tuesday.
“Three months ago, I entered the race for President to defeat Donald Trump,” Bloomberg, 78, said in a statement.
“Today, I am leaving the race for the same reason: to defeat Donald Trump—because it is clear to me that staying in would make achieving that goal more difficult.”
In announcing his withdrawal, Bloomberg endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden, 77, for the Democratic nomination. Former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, 38, and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), 59, also endorsed Biden after ending their bids in recent days.
The withdrawal leaves Biden and Sanders fighting for the nomination, absent a brokered convention, which is triggered if no candidate gets a majority of delegates leading up to the convention or in the first round of voting by delegates.
Candidates need at least 1,991 delegates to secure the nomination on the first ballot at the Democratic National Convention on July 13–16 in Milwaukee.
Biden now has 664 delegates, according to Citizen Times data, leading Sanders, who has 573. Warren finished in a distant third position with 64, before she pulled out the race on Friday. Bloomberg earned 61, including five for winning in American Samoa, before his exit.
