South Carolina Democratic Debate 2020: Warren strikes at Bloomberg for his 'kill it' abortion remark from '97
When it came to her billionaire rival Michael Bloomberg, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren resumed it in the tenth Democratic debate in Charleston, South Carolina on Tuesday (February 25), just from where she had left in Nevada. The 70-year-old, who has not been able to finish in the top two of a single primary so far, took on the former New York City mayor on the issue of his alleged discrimination of women, just like she had done in the previous debate.
Warren was in her aggressive best against the 77-year-old Bloomberg to bring to the fore the controversial episode where the latter told one of his female employees “kill it” when she revealed her pregnancy to him. The accusation was made in a 1997 lawsuit.
Taking on Bloomberg, Warren said she at least did not have a boss who could speak with such insensitivity. She told the audience how pregnancy discrimination was something personal for her and saying the billionaire candidate was previously guilty of it.
Warren shares her own experience of pregnancy discrimination
“You know, this is personal for me. When I was 21 years old, I got my first job as a special education teacher. I loved that job. And by the end of the first year, I was visibly pregnant,' she recalled. 'The principal wished me luck and gave my job to someone else,” said Warren, who has also given her campaign a gender-related edge especially after her tussle with Bernie Sanders who reportedly told her that a woman cannot become the president of the US.
She then mentioned the “kill it” episode saying the way that Mayor Bloomberg said to one of his pregnant workers. However, the billionaire denied it.
Bloomberg, who put up a much better performance compared to Nevada where he made his debut, has been more defensive when past incidents have resurfaced challenging his candidature. He had apologized recently over his support for community policing while showing his pro-black stances and on Tuesday, he took the responsibility of uttering jokes that did not go down well particularly with the women.
Bloomberg pushed back against Warren’s accusations to complain that he has already given into the latter’s demands but she was never satisfied and preyed on him again. He said the trouble with Warren is that “enough is never enough”.
Bloomberg is the riskiest Democratic candidate, says Warren
It all started when one of the moderators of the debate asked Warren why she thought Bloomberg would be the riskiest Democrat to get nominated for the November election.
“Let's think of it this way, we're here in Charleston and you know who's going to be in Charleston later this week is Donald Trump? He's going to be here to raise money for his buddy, Senator Lindsey Graham. Who funded Lindsey Graham's campaign for re-election last time?' Warren asked and then replied on her own, "It was Mayor Bloomberg”.
She also slammed Bloomberg, who had become a Republican from a Democrat in 2001 and then turned an independent to return to the Democratic camp in 2018, for having donated for Pennsylvania's Republican Senator Pat Toomey. In the same contest, a female Democratic candidate had lost by a solitary point.
“In 2012, he scooped in to defend another Republican senator against a woman challenger,” Warren said. “That was me,” she added. “It didn't work, but he tried hard,” she said.
The senator added that no matter how much Bloomberg tries by funding Democratic causes, the party’s core will never back him. According to her, since the billionaire candidate who is self-funding his campaign hasn’t earned the voters’ trust and cannot ever when it comes to the Democratic Party, he remains the riskiest candidate.
The conversation in Charleston then returned to Bloomberg's company's earlier use of non-disclosure agreements, something over which Warren hammered him in the debate in Nevada last week.
Bloomberg is yet to contest in a primary and will make his debut on Super Tuesday when 14 states will go to the primaries.