Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, who has qualified for Wednesday night's debate in Las Vegas, should not be underestimated, ex-House Speaker Newt Gingrich warned Tuesday.
"He is very professional," Gingrich told Fox News' "Fox and Friends." "He is very smart. He served as mayor of New York for 12 years and people thought overall he basically bought it the last time. He spent about $200 per vote, which is, I think, the all-time American record. But, nonetheless, he served for 12 years. It was a relatively corruption-free, relatively effective period in terms of the city's prosperity."
According to a new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll published Tuesday, Sen. Bernie Sanders has a double-digit lead in the Democratic primary contest, at 31% support nationally. Bloomberg, even though he has not yet been on the debate stage or campaigned in a primary, is in second place at 19%.
The key for Sanders, former Vice President Joe Biden, Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar, and Pete Buttigieg, who will take the stage with Bloomberg on Wednesday, is to go after him collectively, said Gingrich.
"If they don't bring up all these things that are beginning to surface and make him answer for them, they are just going to get drowned," said Gingrich. "The only person right now who could play with him is Bernie Sanders, who has a big enough base...Bernie is in so far for $10 million, but I think Bloomberg is in for about $230 million. Sanders is the only guy even showing up on the stage for Super Tuesday right now."
However, Bloomberg's spending may start to backfire, Gingrich said.
"Advertising at some point starts to lose its effectiveness," he said. "When you see your 300th ad, you kind of get it...the American people are pretty educated about when TV commercials are phony and when they are real."