Michael Bloomberg’s 2020 campaign manager says the Democratic-led impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump is making Trump’s reelection “more likely.”
Kevin Sheekey, who has been at high-level positions within Bloomberg’s business empire for years, said the current political situation favors Trump.
“I think Trump is a complicated individual. He has high personal negative. The economy is doing well. When you look at the presidential campaign, we don’t have a national campaign. We have a campaign that happens in six states,” Sheekey said on Nov. 27 on CNN’s “Amanpour.”
“It happens in Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Florida, Arizona today. And The New York Times polled earlier this month—we’ve polled it ourselves—if that election occurred today, Donald Trump has a pretty clear shot, according to The New York Times, of winning all six states. He only needs to win three or four. If he had an election and it was in those states today, he would win.”
Host Christiane Amanpour asked, “Even with the impeachment process?”
“Yeah. I think I worry a lot that we’re setting ourselves up here to impeachment, acquittal, and reelection. We’re all outraged by what is going on. Anyone who looks at those things, you should be outraged by what the president has done. Except it’s not helping in the places where this election will ultimately be decided,” Sheekey said.
“There are about 31 congressional districts in this country that are swing districts. Mike Bloomberg spent an enormous amount of money and time and his own leadership to focus on 24 of those races last year, all Republican. We elected 18 democrats, 15 women. If you’re in one of those districts today and you’re a moderate member of Congress, almost all of them would tell you today these impeachment hearings are threatening their reelection. If you think about that, those are the districts to where we tilt the presidential election. So by definition, it means the impeachment proceedings are making the president’s reelection more likely, not less likely.”
Sheekey said during an earlier appearance on CNN that Trump is winning as of now, saying the general election is all about the six states.
“That’s the whole general election. And right now Donald Trump is winning, he is winning that election. It’s very tough for people who don’t live in New York or California to understand that, but that is what’s happening,” Sheekey said, adding that Bloomberg “thinks he’s on a path to victory and he’s getting in to alter that dynamic.”
