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Back in April, the New York Times reported that big money donors were realizing the power of Bernie’s candidacy — and they were frantically working on plans to “thwart a 70-something candidate from outside the party structure who is immune to intimidation or incentive and wields support from an unwavering base.”

As the Bernie Surge in the polls, in fundraising and in grassroots organizing continues to gain momentum, the billionaire class’s plans have now come to life — in the form of Michael Bloomberg’s presidential campaign.

The billionaire has portrayed his White House run as a backlash to Trump — but Bloomberg has been an ally and friend to Trump. Indeed, only a few years ago, Bloomberg insisted that “If there is anybody who has changed this city, it is Donald Trump…He really has done an amazing thing.”

Consider some clues that suggest Bloomberg’s campaign’s first and foremost mission is to stop Bernie:

• BLOOMBERG ONLY ANNOUNCED WHEN BERNIE BEGAN SURGING: Bloomberg could have launched his self-financed presidential bid at any point — but he decided to launch it at precisely the moment polls showed Bernie posting the largest polling gains of any candidate in the race.

•BLOOMBERG WAS PRESSED TO RUN BY BERNIE’S NEMESIS: Bloomberg was pressed to run for president by none other than Jeff Bezos — the Amazon CEO who Bernie helped shame into raising wages for Amazon workers.

• BLOOMBERG IS CLOSE WITH ANOTHER BERNIE NEMESIS: Bloomberg is also close with Disney CEO Bob Iger, who serves on the Bloomberg Foundations’ board. Iger has publicly attacked Bernie, after Bernie successfully shamed him into raising wages for workers.

• BLOOMBERG ATTACKED BERNIE IN 2016: Bloomberg began floating the idea of a presidential bid in 2016, just as Bernie was beginning to gain momentum in that race. At the time, Bloomberg disparaged Bernie and his campaign’s challenge to Wall Street.

As Bloomberg now tries to buy the election with an unprecedented television ad campaign, Bernie has offered a very clear response to the billionaire candidate:

Bern after reading,

Sirota

P.S. Watch this new CNN segment about the Bernie 2020 campaign’s response to Bloomberg’s candidacy: