motherjones--2020-01-16--A List of Things Bloomberg Actually Said About Fat People, Rape, George W. Bush, and J.Lo

To call Michael Bloomberg ’ s campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination unorthodox would be an understatement .
The former New York mayor is skipping the early voting states of Iowa , New Hampshire , Nevada , and South Carolina .
He ’ s not accepting individual donations—instead spending $ 200 million of his own money in just the first two months of his campaign—and consequently he ’ s also skipping the debates , whose criteria for inclusion require a certain number of donors .
And then there ’ s the matter of his record .
Over two decades in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ conservative and social liberal , has switched his party affiliation three times and defied the Democratic party ’ s base on key issues .
His history of degrading comments about women , meanwhile , has dogged him throughout his political career .
As the mogul prepares to reissue his 1997 memoir , Bloomberg by Bloomberg , here ’ s the candidate in his own words : “ I have always been a registered Democrat.
” ( source ) “ Well , the Republican Party called me , asked me to run .
I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ local Republican government officials and party leaders .
And I agree with the Republican values of those inclusive Republicans like the mayor , like the governor .
And I ’ m very comfortable in running as a Republican , and I will stay a Republican long after this election.
” ( source ) “ I have filed papers with the New York City Board of Elections to change my status as a voter and register as unaffiliated with any political party .
Although my plans for the future haven ’ t changed , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ alignment with how I have led and will continue to lead our city.
” ( source ) “ Today , I have re-registered as a Democrat—I had been a member for most of my life—because we need Democrats to provide the checks and balance our nation so badly needs.
” ( source ) “ I actually am a conservative—more so than other conservatives in the sense that I think you could go and cut 2 or 3 percent out of the budget in every agency .
We ’ ve done that 12 times @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a billion and a half , and there ’ s six-odd billion that ’ s recurring , and you can go and cut people or find other revenue sources.
” ( source ) “ Don ’ t forget that the war started not very many blocks from here.
” ( source ) “ I don ’ t live in a regret world , and I didn ’ t make the decision.
” ( source ) “ We are going to get George W. Bush re-elected as president of the United States !
We @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and New York State .
Everybody thinks I ’ m crazy , but I think we can do it.
” ( source ) On whether Bush was the right choice over John Kerry ( 2020 ) : “ Kerry is a friend .
Bush is a casual friend .
I guess Bush came to the city ’ s aid when I asked him to .
He gave us a lot of money , which we wanted .
We know what Bush did .
We don ’ t know what Kerry would have done @ @ @ @ @ @ @ how you can make a comparison.
” ( source ) On Barack Obama , whom he endorsed in 2012 : “ I am sympathetic that he has a Congress that is partisan .
In the past two hundred and thirty-five years , we ’ ve probably had lots of partisan Congresses .
His job is to try to bring the parties together .
And when he works at it he has actually done some pretty good things.
” ( source ) “ This business of ‘ Well , they can afford it ; @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ?
Who are you to say somebody else ’ s fair share ?
” ( source ) On women , according to The Portable Bloomberg : The Wit and Wisdom of Michael Bloomberg , a booklet assembled by his employees in 1990 : “ If women wanted to be appreciated for their brains , they ’ d go to the library instead of to Bloomingdale ’ s. ” ( source ) On his company ’ s signature product , the Bloomberg Terminal , according to The Portable Bloomberg : “ It will do @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sex ] .
I guess that puts a lot of you girls out of business.
” ( source ) On the British royal family , according to the same book : “ What a bunch of misfits—a gay , an architect , that horsey faced lesbian , and a kid who gave up Koo Stark for some fat broad.
” ( source ) On his comments in The Portable Bloomberg ( 2001 ) : “ I don ’ t remember ever saying that…And the fact that it comes up three days before a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ normal politics , so I ’ m told .
I ’ m not a politician and I don ’ t want to get involved in it…It doesn ’ t reflect me .
I apologize if anybody ’ s offended by it .
But I didn ’ t say those things.
” ( source ) On whether he ’ d ever “ made a comment to the effect that you would like to ‘ do that piece of meat , ’ or I ’ d ‘ do her in a second.
’ ” “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the term ‘ meat ’ at all.
” ( source ) ‘ I tell you what—who I ’ d really want to have : J.Lo.
” ( source ) “ They would make it harder and more costly for businesses to stay , and harder and more costly for businesses to thrive.
” ( source ) “ I , for example , am not in favor , have never been in favor , of raising the minimum wage.
” ( source ) “ To fight poverty , we need to do something even @ @ @ @ @ @ @ incomes .
And we should start with the most straightforward change : raising the minimum wage.
” ( source ) On learning that a co-worker was pregnant , according to a 1997 sexual harassment lawsuit : On what he wants in life , according to the same lawsuit : “ I would like nothing more in life than to have Sharon Stone sit on my face.
” ( source ) On what it would take for him to believe a rape allegation : “ They have done some bad things .
I suppose @ @ @ @ @ @ @ But the mortgage crisis was not the exclusive creation of the banks .
We all wanted everybody to get a mortgage regardless of whether they could afford it , and that eventually leads to euphoria and exaggeration and to sloppiness and a variety of those things .
But Fannie and Freddie were as guilty as everybody .
I ’ m not taking the banks off the hook .
But I don ’ t think that just because you ’ re a banker you should be vilified.
” ( source ) “ This isn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , it ’ s an occupation of a growing , vibrant residential neighborhood in lower Manhattan.
” ( source ) “ This is our industry .
We ’ d appreciate it if someone recognized that this is our tax base.
” ( source ) On fines handed out to banks in the aftermath of the financial crisis : “ Some of these fines I think are outrageous and shouldn ’ t be allowed to take place.
” ( source ) On endorsing Scott Brown in his re-election campaign against Elizabeth Warren , ostensibly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ extend concealed-carry reciprocity .
“ He ’ s not good on other things that I would like .
He ’ s not good on guns generally , but this was something that was really critical , saving a lot of lives , and that ’ s what I think you should give support to , people that do the right thing.
” ( source ) On the Green New Deal : “ I ’ m a little bit tired of listening to things that are pie in the sky , that we never @ @ @ @ @ @ @ going to afford .
I think it ’ s just disingenuous to promote those things .
You ’ ve got to do something that ’ s practical.
” ( source ) On census figures showing New York City ’ s income inequality had risen sharply during his tenure : “ That ’ s not a measure of something we should be ashamed of.
” ( source ) On his successor Bill de Blasio ’ s critique of income inequality : “ The way to help those who are less fortunate is , number @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people .
They are the ones that pay the bills .
The people that would get very badly hurt here if you drive out the very wealthy are the people he professes to try to help .
Tearing people apart with this ‘ two cities ’ thing doesn ’ t make any sense to me .
It ’ s a destructive strategy for those you want to help the most .
He ’ s a very populist , very left-wing guy , but this city is not two groups , and if to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s one group paying for services for the other.
” ( source ) On the law signed by Obama to curb too-big-to-fail banks : “ The result of Dodd-Frank is that we are more vulnerable to a handful of banks going belly-up than we were before .
Thank you very much !
It didn ’ t accomplish anything , because it wasn ’ t a well-thought-out piece of legislation .
I ’ m not opposed to legislation .
This was just a terrible bill.
” ( source ) On what caused the housing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ public policy , which I happen to think is the right policy , to encourage home ownership .
We did this through Fannie and Freddie .
And the way they raised money was by taking the mortgages and packaging them , otherwise it would have been just commercial banks making local loans and no expansion of the economy and spending on transportation and all of the infrastructure stuff .
So it went through a downturn .
Is it any worse than other downturns ?
In some places yes .
They overbuilt in Florida @ @ @ @ @ @ @ there abuses ?
Yes .
People pushed on the mortgages .
You pay a mortgage salesman to sell mortgages , will they sell them to everybody ?
Yeah , if somebody lies about their income .
So you got ta say , ‘ a consequence of a very expansive housing market is that there will be a downturn and lead to lots of defaults .
But on balance , we ’ re better off because of it.
’ And by the way , the people that own those mortgages are in these package @ @ @ @ @ @ @ professional investors .
Now people say , ‘ Oh but I didn ’ t understand what I was buying.
’ This is ridiculous .
They should have done the research.
” ( source ) “ It was not the banks that created the mortgage crisis .
It was , plain and simple , Congress who forced everybody to go and give mortgages to people who were on the cusp .
Now , I ’ m not saying I ’ m sure that was terrible policy , because a lot of those people who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wouldn ’ t have gotten them without that.
” ( source ) On his dating life after divorcing his first wife , Susan : “ I am a single , straight billionaire in Manhattan .
It ’ s like a wet dream.
” ( source ) On the rise of President Donald Trump and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders : “ The average person with the education we ’ re providing our kids today doesn ’ t understand that we ’ ve stopped teaching civics , we ’ ve stopped teaching history , we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they hear democratic socialism , which is what Bernie Sanders was promoting , [ and think ] ‘ Yeah , yeah , democratic , that sounds good .
And socialism , yeah , it ’ s like that social media stuff.
’ ” ( source ) “ There ’ s nothing wrong with working for a private equity firm…Bain Capital is a firm that ’ s been around a long time .
They ’ ve had successes bailing out companies going out of business .
Their business is to take businesses that are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the number of employees , hire better employees…and get those companies back out there being productive.
” ( source ) “ I used to be against school vouchers .
Now I think that I ’ d probably be a lot more in favor of them .
I am a believer that the public is better off when it has a choice .
The wealthy already have the choice.
” ( source ) “ From a fairness point of view , you can certainly make the case that , you know , if you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the public doesn ’ t have to pay to educate them , and you should get a credit for it .
Politically , it is just not going to happen in this state , is a fair way to phrase it.
” ( source ) “ If the U.F.T .
wants it , it ain ’ t good.
” ( source ) On reports that the city council would attempt to repeal the two-term limits for council members : “ The public voted twice for limiting the number of terms…they voted twice to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
And I think it would be an absolute disgrace to try to go around the public will.
” ( source ) On his subsequent effort to convince the city council to rewrite the city charter to allow the mayor to serve three terms : “ The law said the city council can change the rule .
They voted , nobody put a gun to their head .
That ’ s the law .
If you don ’ t like the law , change the law .
Don ’ t complain about somebody @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) On famed weight-loss guru Dr. Robert Atkins , who died in 2004 after falling on the sidewalk : “ I don ’ t believe that bullshit that [ he ] dropped dead slipping on the sidewalk .
Yeah , right !
…The guy was fat.
” ( source ) On criticism of his comments about the death of Dr. Atkins : “ I would never criticize somebody about their waistline .
Let me just say , ‘ You are what you eat.
’ ” ( source ) On criticism of stop and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ think we disproportionately stop whites too much and minorities too little.
” ( source ) “ If I had a son who was stopped , I might feel differently about it , but nevertheless .
Maybe I was inelegant , but I don ’ t think anybody thinks I am anything but—I hope not , anyway—supportive of trying to help all people .
With my own money as well as time , thank you very much .
I ’ ve spent twelve years of my life doing this.
” ( source ) On @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) : “ I think people , the voters , want low crime .
They don ’ t want kids to kill each other.
” ( source ) On criticism of stop and frisk ( January 2019 ) : “ I think it ’ s also true that most police departments around the world do the same thing , they just don ’ t report it or use the terminology…we certainly did not pick somebody by race.
” ( source ) On criticism of stop and frisk ( November 2019 ) : “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I didn ’ t understand the full impact that stops were having on the black and Latino communities .
I was totally focused on saving lives , but as we know , good intentions aren ’ t good enough .
Now , hindsight is 20/20 .
But , as crime continued to come down as we reduced stops , and as it continued to come down during the next administration , to its credit , I now see that we could and should have acted sooner and acted faster to cut the stops @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ m sorry that we didn ’ t .
But , I can ’ t change history .
However , today I want you to know that I realize…I was wrong , and I ’ m sorry.
” ( source ) On criticism of stop and frisk ( December 2019 ) : “ Well , nobody asked me about it till I started running for president .
So , c ’ mon.
” ( source ) “ You know , is it true ?
You look at people that say it is , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have—presumption of innocence is the basis of it.
” ( source ) On de Blasio ’ s use of his African American family in campaign ads : “ Joe Biden went out and apologized for being male , over 50 , white .
He apologized for the one piece of legislation which is actually a pretty good anti-crime bill , which if the liberals ever read it , most of the things they like is in that bill .
They should have loved that , but they didn ’ t even bother to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , you must be anti-populist.
” ( source )

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To call Michael Bloomberg’s campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination unorthodox would be an understatement. The former New York mayor is skipping the early voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina. He’s not accepting individual donations—instead spending $200 million of his own money in just the first two months of his campaign—and consequently he’s also skipping the debates, whose criteria for inclusion require a certain number of donors.
And then there’s the matter of his record. Over two decades in politics, Bloomberg, a self-described fiscal conservative and social liberal, has switched his party affiliation three times and defied the Democratic party’s base on key issues. His history of degrading comments about women, meanwhile, has dogged him throughout his political career.
As the mogul prepares to reissue his 1997 memoir, Bloomberg by Bloomberg, here’s the candidate in his own words:
On political parties (1998):
“I have always been a registered Democrat.” (source)
On political parties (2001):
“Well, the Republican Party called me, asked me to run. I’ve been endorsed by almost all local Republican government officials and party leaders. And I agree with the Republican values of those inclusive Republicans like the mayor, like the governor. And I’m very comfortable in running as a Republican, and I will stay a Republican long after this election.” (source)
On political parties (2007):
“I have filed papers with the New York City Board of Elections to change my status as a voter and register as unaffiliated with any political party. Although my plans for the future haven’t changed, I believe this brings my affiliation into alignment with how I have led and will continue to lead our city.” (source)
On political parties (2018):
“Today, I have re-registered as a Democrat—I had been a member for most of my life—because we need Democrats to provide the checks and balance our nation so badly needs.” (source)
On his ideology:
“I actually am a conservative—more so than other conservatives in the sense that I think you could go and cut 2 or 3 percent out of the budget in every agency. We’ve done that 12 times, and we’ve cut roughly a billion and a half, and there’s six-odd billion that’s recurring, and you can go and cut people or find other revenue sources.” (source)
On the Iraq War (2004):
“Don’t forget that the war started not very many blocks from here.” (source)
On the Iraq War (2020):
“I don’t live in a regret world, and I didn’t make the decision.” (source)
On George W. Bush (2004):
“We are going to get George W. Bush re-elected as president of the United States! We are going to carry New York City and New York State. Everybody thinks I’m crazy, but I think we can do it.” (source)
On whether Bush was the right choice over John Kerry (2020):
“Kerry is a friend. Bush is a casual friend. I guess Bush came to the city’s aid when I asked him to. He gave us a lot of money, which we wanted. We know what Bush did. We don’t know what Kerry would have done. So I don’t see how you can make a comparison.” (source)
On Barack Obama, whom he endorsed in 2012:
“I am sympathetic that he has a Congress that is partisan. In the past two hundred and thirty-five years, we’ve probably had lots of partisan Congresses. His job is to try to bring the parties together. And when he works at it he has actually done some pretty good things.” (source)
“This business of ‘Well, they can afford it; they should pay their fair share’? Who are you to say somebody else’s fair share?” (source)
On women, according to The Portable Bloomberg: The Wit and Wisdom of Michael Bloomberg, a booklet assembled by his employees in 1990:
“If women wanted to be appreciated for their brains, they’d go to the library instead of to Bloomingdale’s.” (source)
On his company’s signature product, the Bloomberg Terminal, according to The Portable Bloomberg:
“It will do everything, including give you [oral sex]. I guess that puts a lot of you girls out of business.” (source)
On the British royal family, according to the same book:
“What a bunch of misfits—a gay, an architect, that horsey faced lesbian, and a kid who gave up Koo Stark for some fat broad.” (source)
On his comments in The Portable Bloomberg (2001):
“I don’t remember ever saying that…And the fact that it comes up three days before a primary—come on, that’s just normal politics, so I’m told. I’m not a politician and I don’t want to get involved in it…It doesn’t reflect me. I apologize if anybody’s offended by it. But I didn’t say those things.” (source)
On whether he’d ever “made a comment to the effect that you would like to ‘do that piece of meat,’ or I’d ‘do her in a second.’”
“I don’t recall ever using the term ‘meat’ at all.” (source)
On Jennifer Lopez:
‘I tell you what—who I’d really want to have: J.Lo.” (source)
On raising the minimum wage (2012):
“They would make it harder and more costly for businesses to stay, and harder and more costly for businesses to thrive.” (source)
On raising the minimum wage (2015):
“I, for example, am not in favor, have never been in favor, of raising the minimum wage.” (source)
On raising the minimum wage (2019):
“To fight poverty, we need to do something even more basic, and that is raise incomes. And we should start with the most straightforward change: raising the minimum wage.” (source)
On learning that a co-worker was pregnant, according to a 1997 sexual harassment lawsuit:
“Kill it!” (source)
On what he wants in life, according to the same lawsuit:
“I would like nothing more in life than to have Sharon Stone sit on my face.” (source)
On what it would take for him to believe a rape allegation:
“I guess an unimpeachable third-party witness” (source)
On Wall Street:
“They have done some bad things. I suppose everybody has, every industry has. But the mortgage crisis was not the exclusive creation of the banks. We all wanted everybody to get a mortgage regardless of whether they could afford it, and that eventually leads to euphoria and exaggeration and to sloppiness and a variety of those things. But Fannie and Freddie were as guilty as everybody. I’m not taking the banks off the hook. But I don’t think that just because you’re a banker you should be vilified.” (source)
On Occupy Wall Street:
“This isn’t an occupation of Wall Street, it’s an occupation of a growing, vibrant residential neighborhood in lower Manhattan.” (source)
On criticisms of Wall Street:
“This is our industry. We’d appreciate it if someone recognized that this is our tax base.” (source)
On fines handed out to banks in the aftermath of the financial crisis:
“Some of these fines I think are outrageous and shouldn’t be allowed to take place.” (source)
On endorsing Scott Brown in his re-election campaign against Elizabeth Warren, ostensibly because Brown voted against a bill to extend concealed-carry reciprocity.
“He’s not good on other things that I would like. He’s not good on guns generally, but this was something that was really critical, saving a lot of lives, and that’s what I think you should give support to, people that do the right thing.” (source)
On the Green New Deal:
“I’m a little bit tired of listening to things that are pie in the sky, that we never are going to pass, are never going to afford. I think it’s just disingenuous to promote those things. You’ve got to do something that’s practical.” (source)
On census figures showing New York City’s income inequality had risen sharply during his tenure:
“That’s not a measure of something we should be ashamed of.” (source)
On his successor Bill de Blasio’s critique of income inequality:
“The way to help those who are less fortunate is, number one, to attract more very fortunate people. They are the ones that pay the bills. The people that would get very badly hurt here if you drive out the very wealthy are the people he professes to try to help. Tearing people apart with this ‘two cities’ thing doesn’t make any sense to me. It’s a destructive strategy for those you want to help the most. He’s a very populist, very left-wing guy, but this city is not two groups, and if to some extent it is, it’s one group paying for services for the other.” (source)
On the law signed by Obama to curb too-big-to-fail banks:
“The result of Dodd-Frank is that we are more vulnerable to a handful of banks going belly-up than we were before. Thank you very much! It didn’t accomplish anything, because it wasn’t a well-thought-out piece of legislation. I’m not opposed to legislation. This was just a terrible bill.” (source)
On what caused the housing crisis:
“We had an explicit public policy, which I happen to think is the right policy, to encourage home ownership. We did this through Fannie and Freddie. And the way they raised money was by taking the mortgages and packaging them, otherwise it would have been just commercial banks making local loans and no expansion of the economy and spending on transportation and all of the infrastructure stuff. So it went through a downturn. Is it any worse than other downturns? In some places yes. They overbuilt in Florida, they overbuilt in Arizona. Were there abuses? Yes. People pushed on the mortgages. You pay a mortgage salesman to sell mortgages, will they sell them to everybody? Yeah, if somebody lies about their income. So you gotta say, ‘a consequence of a very expansive housing market is that there will be a downturn and lead to lots of defaults. But on balance, we’re better off because of it.’ And by the way, the people that own those mortgages are in these package deals. Mortgage derivatives were sold to professional investors. Now people say, ‘Oh but I didn’t understand what I was buying.’ This is ridiculous. They should have done the research.” (source)
“It was not the banks that created the mortgage crisis. It was, plain and simple, Congress who forced everybody to go and give mortgages to people who were on the cusp. Now, I’m not saying I’m sure that was terrible policy, because a lot of those people who got homes still have them and they wouldn’t have gotten them without that.” (source)
On his dating life after divorcing his first wife, Susan:
“I am a single, straight billionaire in Manhattan. It’s like a wet dream.” (source)
On the rise of President Donald Trump and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders:
“The average person with the education we’re providing our kids today doesn’t understand that we’ve stopped teaching civics, we’ve stopped teaching history, we no longer teach Western civilization. When they hear democratic socialism, which is what Bernie Sanders was promoting, [and think] ‘Yeah, yeah, democratic, that sounds good. And socialism, yeah, it’s like that social media stuff.’” (source)
On Obama’s 2012 criticisms of Bain Capital:
“There’s nothing wrong with working for a private equity firm…Bain Capital is a firm that’s been around a long time. They’ve had successes bailing out companies going out of business. Their business is to take businesses that are failing and change the management, change the number of employees, hire better employees…and get those companies back out there being productive.” (source)
On school vouchers:
“I used to be against school vouchers. Now I think that I’d probably be a lot more in favor of them. I am a believer that the public is better off when it has a choice. The wealthy already have the choice.” (source)
“From a fairness point of view, you can certainly make the case that, you know, if you send your kids to private schools, the public doesn’t have to pay to educate them, and you should get a credit for it. Politically, it is just not going to happen in this state, is a fair way to phrase it.” (source)
On teachers unions:
“If the U.F.T. wants it, it ain’t good.” (source)
On reports that the city council would attempt to repeal the two-term limits for council members:
“The public voted twice for limiting the number of terms…they voted twice to limit them to two terms. Period. And I think it would be an absolute disgrace to try to go around the public will.” (source)
On his subsequent effort to convince the city council to rewrite the city charter to allow the mayor to serve three terms:
“The law said the city council can change the rule. They voted, nobody put a gun to their head. That’s the law. If you don’t like the law, change the law. Don’t complain about somebody living within the law.” (source)
On famed weight-loss guru Dr. Robert Atkins, who died in 2004 after falling on the sidewalk:
“I don’t believe that bullshit that [he] dropped dead slipping on the sidewalk. Yeah, right!…The guy was fat.” (source)
On criticism of his comments about the death of Dr. Atkins:
“I would never criticize somebody about their waistline. Let me just say, ‘You are what you eat.’” (source)
On criticism of stop and frisk (2013):
“I think we disproportionately stop whites too much and minorities too little.” (source)
“If I had a son who was stopped, I might feel differently about it, but nevertheless. Maybe I was inelegant, but I don’t think anybody thinks I am anything but—I hope not, anyway—supportive of trying to help all people. With my own money as well as time, thank you very much. I’ve spent twelve years of my life doing this.” (source)
On criticism of stop and frisk (2018):
“I think people, the voters, want low crime. They don’t want kids to kill each other.” (source)
On criticism of stop and frisk (January 2019):
“I think it’s also true that most police departments around the world do the same thing, they just don’t report it or use the terminology…we certainly did not pick somebody by race.” (source)
On criticism of stop and frisk (November 2019):
“I got something important really wrong. I didn’t understand the full impact that stops were having on the black and Latino communities. I was totally focused on saving lives, but as we know, good intentions aren’t good enough. Now, hindsight is 20/20. But, as crime continued to come down as we reduced stops, and as it continued to come down during the next administration, to its credit, I now see that we could and should have acted sooner and acted faster to cut the stops. I wish we had. I’m sorry that we didn’t. But, I can’t change history. However, today I want you to know that I realize…I was wrong, and I’m sorry.” (source)
On criticism of stop and frisk (December 2019):
“Well, nobody asked me about it till I started running for president. So, c’mon.” (source)
On sexual abuse allegations against Charlie Rose:
“You know, is it true? You look at people that say it is, but we have a system where you have—presumption of innocence is the basis of it.” (source)
On de Blasio’s use of his African American family in campaign ads:
“Racist.” (source)
On Joe Biden:
“Joe Biden went out and apologized for being male, over 50, white. He apologized for the one piece of legislation which is actually a pretty good anti-crime bill, which if the liberals ever read it, most of the things they like is in that bill. They should have loved that, but they didn’t even bother to read it. You’re anti-crime, you must be anti-populist.” (source)


motherjones--2020-01-16--ICE Is Force-Feeding Hunger Strikers, in Violation of Medical Ethics

Immigration and Customs Enforcement is subjecting asylum seekers to forced feeding and hydration , despite widespread agreement among medical professionals that the practice is unethical and never justified .
Two men at ICE ’ s LaSalle detention center , a facility in Louisiana run by the for-profit prison company GEO Group , have been refusing food and water since November 1 , according to Freedom for Immigrants , an advocacy group that seeks to end immigration detention .
The men are protesting to pressure ICE to release them so that they can fight their asylum cases from outside of detention @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , says that as of Tuesday , 10 people in Louisiana were on hunger strikes , defined by the agency as missing at least nine consecutive meals .
Under the Trump administration , ICE has moved toward a policy of mandatory detention for asylum seekers as part of its effort to deter people from seeking protection at the southern border .
ICE ’ s New Orleans field office , which covers Louisiana and four other Southern states , went from releasing 75 percent of eligible asylum seekers on parole in 2016 to 1.5 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a federal judge ordered the agency to give asylum seekers detained in the Deep South a fair chance of release , but lawyers in the state have told me they ’ ve seen no evidence that ICE is complying .
Asylum seekers detained in Louisiana say they ’ ve been pepper-sprayed and beaten for protesting their indefinite detention .
The World Medical Association , the international authority on medical ethics , has repeatedly stated that force-feeding mentally competent hunger strikers is never ethically acceptable .
The American Medical Association and the International Committee @ @ @ @ @ @ @ practice .
Ravina Shamdasani , a spokeswoman for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights , said in February that force-feeding may violate the UN Convention against Torture .
Suresh Kumar , one of the LaSalle detainees refusing food and water , said in a statement that he crossed the border on Christmas Day in 2018 after fleeing political persecution in India .
He is now being force-fed under a December court order issued by a federal judge in Louisiana that authorizes ICE to restrain him if he resists .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ to take fluids asked to be identified by only his last name , which is also Kumar , out of fear of persecution if he is deported .
Michelle Graffeo , a social work student at Louisiana State University who regularly visits both men , has been leaving her home on Sundays at 4 a.m. to make the three-hour drive to the detention center .
When we spoke last week , a day after she ’ d visited Suresh Kumar , she said he looked liked he was dying .
He is wheelchair @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to move himself around , according to Graffeo .
Graffeo says the feeding tube that runs into his stomach was taped to his nose and that the area around it was infected .
She says Suresh Kumar filled two coffee cups as he coughed and spat up stomach bile during the visit .
He lost his asylum case and is now appealing .
Kumar , the hunger striker who asked that his first name not be used , is being hydrated against his will under a November court order .
Speaking through a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ says he was restrained while medical personnel inserted an IV as guards in protective gear looked on .
Kumar says he has lost about 50 pounds—nearly a third of his body weight—over the past year in ICE custody and that he has been using a wheelchair since early November .
He says he is in pain all over his body .
Kumar did not apply to be released on bond after seeing fellow detainees get rejected , but he has told Freedom for Immigrants that he is willing to try as he awaits @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
When we spoke last week , Kumar said he had just missed his 204th meal in a row .
( Graffeo is aware of a third ICE detainee in Louisiana who is being force-fed but has not met with him directly . )
Cox says that ICE involuntarily feeds and hydrates people in its custody only under court orders .
“ The short answer is such action is not an ICE decision and is only done if ordered so by a federal judge , ” he writes in an email .
Court @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sought the authority to force-feed and hydrate detainees on ICE ’ s behalf .
Michelle Iglesias , a Texas doctor who has overseen force-feeding for ICE , said at an August court hearing that force-feeding hunger strikers is required by ICE policy to prevent people from starving to death .
ICE has the authority to release asylum seekers instead of detaining them .
Nathan Craig and Margaret Brown Vega of the immigrant rights group Advocate Visitors with Immigrants in Detention in the Chihuahuan Desert say the agency wants to deter people from attempting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Craig explains that ICE officials have told hunger strikers that they would only consider releasing them if they started eating again .
The two advocates are now supporting a South Asian man detained in El Paso who has been on a hunger strike for nearly 60 days .
Over the past year , Brown Vega says , ICE has subjected 16 El Paso hunger strikers to force-feeding .
( An ICE spokeswoman in Texas did not respond to a request for comment . )
During the August court hearing , Iglesias said it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ guards to force-feed a hunger striker by forcing a tube through the nose .
As Texas Monthly reported : Iglesias acknowledged during the hearing that force-feeding hunger strikes is widely seen as a violation of medical ethics .
“ There wouldn ’ t be anyone in a hospital who would do it , ” she said .
Parveen Parmar , a professor of clinical emergency medicine at the University of Southern California , said in an affidavit this summer that the medical treatment provided to Ajay Kumar , an Indian hunger striker in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ medical care I have seen in my 10 years of practice.
” In September , ICE released Ajay Kumar following a 70-day hunger strike .
Brown Vega stresses that ICE does not have to be detaining asylum seekers and that people should not be forced to resort to hunger strikes to try to get out of detention .
“ They ’ re put in this position because there ’ s no other way , ” she says .
“ Because all other mechanisms have been closed .
”

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Immigration and Customs Enforcement is subjecting asylum seekers to forced feeding and hydration, despite widespread agreement among medical professionals that the practice is unethical and never justified.
Three men at ICE’s LaSalle detention center, a facility in Louisiana run by the for-profit prison company GEO Group, have been on a hunger strike since November 1, according to Freedom for Immigrants, an advocacy group that seeks to end immigration detention. The men are protesting to pressure ICE to release them so that they can fight their asylum cases from outside of detention. Bryan Cox, an ICE spokesman, says that as of Tuesday, 10 people in Louisiana were on hunger strikes, defined by the agency as missing at least nine consecutive meals.
Under the Trump administration, ICE has moved toward a policy of mandatory detention for asylum seekers as part of its effort to deter people from seeking protection at the southern border. ICE’s New Orleans field office, which covers Louisiana and four other Southern states, went from releasing 75 percent of eligible asylum seekers on parole in 2016 to 1.5 percent in 2018. In September, a federal judge ordered the agency to give asylum seekers detained in the Deep South a fair chance of release, but lawyers in the state have told me they’ve seen no evidence that ICE is complying. Asylum seekers detained in Louisiana say they’ve been pepper-sprayed and beaten for protesting their indefinite detention.
The World Medical Association, the international authority on medical ethics, has repeatedly stated that force-feeding mentally competent hunger strikers is never ethically acceptable. The American Medical Association and the International Committee of the Red Cross also oppose the practice. Ravina Shamdasani, a spokeswoman for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in February that force-feeding may violate the UN Convention against Torture.
One of the LaSalle hunger-strikers, who Freedom for Immigrants asked to be identified only by his first name, Suresh, said in a statement that he crossed the border on Christmas Day in 2018 after fleeing political persecution in India. Suresh is now being force-fed under a December court order issued by a federal judge in Louisiana that authorizes ICE to restrain him if he resists. A second LaSalle hunger striker is also being force-fed. The third—who asked to be identified by only his last name, Kumar, out of fear of persecution if he is deported—is receiving forced hydration but not forced feeding.
Michelle Graffeo, a social work student at Louisiana State University who regularly visits both men, has been leaving her home on Sundays at 4 a.m. to make the three-hour drive to the detention center. When we spoke last week, a day after she’d visited Suresh, she said he looked liked he was dying. He is wheelchair bound and does not have enough energy to move himself around, according to Graffeo.
Graffeo says the feeding tube that runs into his stomach was taped to his nose and that the area around it was infected. She says Suresh filled two coffee cups as he coughed and spat up stomach bile during the visit. He lost his asylum case and is now appealing.
Kumar, the hunger striker who asked that his first name not be used, is being hydrated against his will under a November court order. Speaking through a friend serving as an interpreter, he says he was restrained while medical personnel inserted an IV as guards in protective gear looked on. Kumar says he has lost about 50 pounds—nearly a third of his body weight—over the past year in ICE custody and that he has been using a wheelchair since early November. He says he is in pain all over his body.
Kumar did not apply to be released on bond after seeing fellow detainees get rejected, but he has told Freedom for Immigrants that he is willing to try as he awaits an initial decision in his asylum case. When we spoke last week, Kumar said he had just missed his 204th meal in a row. (Two other men at LaSalle who started hunger strikes in November recently began drinking nutritional shakes voluntarily, according to Freedom for Immigrants.)
Cox says that ICE involuntarily feeds and hydrates people in its custody only under court orders. “The short answer is such action is not an ICE decision and is only done if ordered so by a federal judge,” he writes in an email. Court records show that the Justice Department has sought the authority to force-feed and hydrate detainees on ICE’s behalf. Michelle Iglesias, a Texas doctor who has overseen force-feeding for ICE, said at an August court hearing that force-feeding hunger strikers is required by ICE policy to prevent people from starving to death.
ICE has the authority to release asylum seekers instead of detaining them. Nathan Craig and Margaret Brown Vega of the immigrant rights group Advocate Visitors with Immigrants in Detention in the Chihuahuan Desert say the agency wants to deter people from attempting hunger strikes to secure their release. Craig explains that ICE officials have told hunger strikers that they would only consider releasing them if they started eating again. The two advocates are now supporting a South Asian man detained in El Paso who has been on a hunger strike for nearly 60 days. Over the past year, Brown Vega says, ICE has subjected 16 El Paso hunger strikers to force-feeding. (An ICE spokeswoman in Texas did not respond to a request for comment.)
During the August court hearing, Iglesias said it takes at least 10 medical professionals and guards to force-feed a hunger striker by forcing a tube through the nose. As Texas Monthly reported:
“It looks like a plastic straw, the same diameter,” Iglesias, 37, told U.S. District Judge David Guaderrama…Six guards surround the detainee—one for each arm and leg, and one at each end of the bed—to respond to any resistance. As many as five other detainees, including fellow hunger-strikers, are in the same room as the sometimes-bloody procedure unfolds.
Iglesias acknowledged during the hearing that force-feeding hunger strikes is widely seen as a violation of medical ethics. “There wouldn’t be anyone in a hospital who would do it,” she said.
Parveen Parmar, a professor of clinical emergency medicine at the University of Southern California, said in an affidavit this summer that the medical treatment provided to Ajay Kumar, an Indian hunger striker in ICE custody, was “the worst medical care I have seen in my 10 years of practice.” In September, ICE released Ajay Kumar following a 70-day hunger strike.
Brown Vega stresses that ICE does not have to be detaining asylum seekers and that people should not be forced to resort to hunger strikes to try to get out of detention. “They’re put in this position because there’s no other way,” she says. “Because all other mechanisms have been closed.”