Mike Bloomberg’s team blames Bernie Sanders fans for ‘eat the rich’ graffiti attack on field office
MICHAEL Bloomberg's campaign blamed graffiti attacks on field offices over recent weeks on Bernie Sanders' fans rhetoric.
The graffiti that appeared on multiple offices over he course of the week read things like "F**k Bloomberg" and "Eat the Rich".
Campaign manager Kevin Sheekey issued a Friday, likening Sanders' fans comments to the graffiti.
He included pictures of the graffiti, along with the latest tag in orange paint on the front doors of a Bloomberg field office in Knoxville, Tennessee.
"F**k Bloomberg," the graffiti read.
“This latest incident at our Knoxville campaign office is exactly what we’ve been warning about," Sheekey said in a statement.
"We don’t know who is responsible for this vandalism, but we do know it echoes language from the Sanders campaign and its supporters."
The graffiti began on Feb. 13, when offices in Toledo, Ohio and Ann Arbor, Michigan were vandalized, the statement alleged.
"Corporate Pig" was spray painted on the Michigan office.
Days later, another office in Flint, Michigan was defaced with a sign that read "Eat the Rich."
Sheekey likened language used at Sanders rallies and by his campaign to the graffiti.
He called for the attacks to end, and asked for Bernie condemn the actions as well.
"We call on Bernie Sanders to immediately condemn these attacks and for his campaign to end the Trump-like rhetoric that is clearly encouraging his supporters to engage in behavior that has no place in our politics," Sheekey said.
Sanders' campaign has yet to respond publicly to the incidents or the statement.
Sanders, who has described himself as a democratic socialist, has long condemned billionaires like Bloomberg and encouraged distributing wealth.
The senator and his staff have recently dubbed former Mayor Bloomberg an "oligarch".
"Today we say to Mayor Bloomberg: we are a democracy, not an oligarchy," Sanders said at a rally in on Monday, as reported by .
In a tweet later in the week, Sanders accused Bloomberg of trying to "buy" the election.
"Michael Bloomberg has no problem spending $7 MILLION a day so he can buy the presidency," Sanders tweeted Thursday night.
"Meanwhile, half our people live paycheck to paycheck. Our economy is rigged, and we must create one that works for all, not just billionaires."
Bloomberg's net worth is estimated at $61.9 billion, according to .
He gained his wealth by using seed funding for the media company Bloomberg LP in 1981, and now owns 88 percent of the company, according to Forbes.
Bloomberg has gotten into hot water after Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren called out the billionaire during the democratic debate Wednesday over non-disclosure agreements he had women sign over sexual harassment claims.
Others pressured Bloomberg to release the women from NDAs, amid roaring claims of sexism.
Bloomberg released a statement on social media Friday, if they contacted his office.
"Bloomberg LP has identified 3 NDAs signed over the past 30+ years with women to address complaints about comments they said I had made," he wrote on Twitter.
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One of the women being released from an NDA was who alleged in a 1997 lawsuit Bloomberg said "Kill it!" when she announced she was pregnant.
Bloomberg denied the statements alleged in Garrison's suit,.
The case was eventually settled out of court for an undisclosed amount.
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