Bloomberg faces first test at debate
Michael Bloomberg tried to fend off demands from several of his Democratic presidential rivals that he release former female employees from any nondisclosure agreements concerning allegations of workplace harassment, as he took part in his first debate with them yesterday.
Bloomberg has previously been accused of fostering a hostile work environment for some female employees. Senator Elizabeth Warren put him on the spot during yesterday’s debate in Las Vegas, asking the former New York City mayor to release women from the agreements and saying his defence didn’t cut it.
Bloomberg said he had ‘‘no tolerance’’ for such behaviour, and that he saw the agreements in question as consensual and not up to him to dissolve.
He went on to say that none of the agreements ‘‘accuse me of doing anything other than, maybe they didn’t like a joke I told’’ – a response that was met with boos from the debate audience.
Meanwhile, Bernie Sanders went on the offensive, trying to head off questions about his health following a heart attack last year. The 78-year-old Vermont senator spent much of the debate hammering Bloomberg.
Bloomberg also said he would release his tax returns in ‘‘a few weeks’’ in response to criticism from his rivals. He runs a financial data and media company, and is worth an estimated US$60 billion (NZ$100b).
He also said that the controversial ‘‘stop-and-frisk’’ policy was the singular thing he was ‘‘embarrassed about’’ from his time as New York City mayor, and that he had repeatedly apologised for it.
Former US vice-president Joe Biden accused Bloomberg of denigrating former president Barack Obama’s signature health care law by calling it ‘‘a disgrace’’ when it was passed. –AP