Democrat Presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg’s campaign has announced they will open ten offices in Washington State, home of the grassroots Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, as part of his multi-million-dollar effort to replace President Donald Trump in the November election, according to KING 5 News.
At the same time, Bloomberg’s Everytown for Gun Safety lobbying group has announced it will spend at least $60 million to support gun control candidates this year. CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb said in response, “Last year he bought Virginia, now he’s trying to buy the United States.”
Perhaps not coincidentally, Liberty Park Press received an email from a group calling itself the National Democratic Training Committee, asserting, “Recent polls have placed Mike Bloomberg in 4th place for the Democratic presidential nomination.” The committee provided a link to a survey that, like virtually all other political surveys, is actually a fund raiser.
Evergreen State grassroots rights activists are battling against several proposed gun control laws, including a repeal of popular state preemption, a ban on so-called “high capacity” magazines, background checks for ammunition purchases, a first-time training mandate for concealed pistol licenses and other restrictions.
According to KING 5 News, the local NBC affiliate in Seattle, former Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, who is Bloomberg’s “top surrogate,” was in the Evergreen State recently “to discuss the billionaire candidate’s campaign strategy.”
But Gottlieb, at his group’s national headquarters in Bellevue—just across Lake Washington from Seattle—already seems to have that strategy figured out.
“Virginia was a test of Bloomberg’s buying power,” Gottlieb said in a prepared statement, “and look how that has worked out. Now his gun prohibition lobbying group is promising to roll out the big bucks to buy state legislative and congressional races nationwide. He is weaponizing his wealth in an attempt to purchase the presidency, along with Capitol Hill and every state legislature in hopes of forcing every American to live under his dictates.”
In 2012, when he was still New York mayor, Bloomberg announced a ban on sugary drinks larger than 16 ounces. At the time, according to Forbes, Bloomberg told MSNBC, “We’re not taking away anybody’s right to do things, we’re simply forcing you to understand that you have to make the conscious decision to go from one cup to another cup.”
The reception was frigid, since Americans dislike politicians trying to force them to do anything. Eventually, the effort was ruled unconstitutional by a state appeals court, which said he had no authority to impose such a ban.
“Gun owners cannot allow Bloomberg to buy their gun rights,” Gottlieb warned in his Tuesday statement. “The Constitution is not for sale, no matter how much money some wealthy demagogue is willing to spend.”
Nutter told KING that Bloomberg’s campaign is “up and running in 30 states,” adding, “When you look at what’s going on in Washington D.C., and more specifically with the current occupant of the White House, Mike felt he was now compelled to run.”
What is going on with “the current occupant of the White House?”
Since taking office, Donald Trump has filled 187 federal court vacancies, including two spots on the U.S. Supreme Court, ostensibly bringing balance to the courts with conservative, pro-gun judges.
The economy has improved. Unemployment is down.
On Tuesday, the president unveiled a two-state Middle East peace plan, although the Palestinians have reportedly rejected the plan.
Trump has been impeached by the House, but the case in the Senate may be in trouble as the battle over calling witnesses unfolds.
Washington State has a presidential primary slated March 10. Bloomberg is apparently ignoring Iowa, but obviously not the Evergreen State. Gottlieb issued a “call to action” for gun owners in and beyond the Pacific Northwest.
“Get engaged,” he urged. “Be sure you’re registered to vote at your current address, and make sure your friends and family members are registered. Start organizing get-out-the-vote efforts in your communities. Get involved in political campaigns and actively support candidates who support your rights, and above all, make protecting the Second Amendment your personal responsibility.”
