(AllHipHop News) Charlamagne Tha God may not be an official surrogate for former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, but The Breakfast Club host sure sounds like one. He is clearly a supporter of Bloomberg’s economic justice plan for Black America.
On Thursday, Charlamagne stopped by CNN’s Erin Burnett OutFront to discuss the current Democratic Primary race. The outspoken media personality talked about why he switched his focus from one ex-mayor to another.
“I do like [former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s] Douglass Plan. That has since changed. I like the Greenwood Initiative that Mayor Bloomberg is presenting as far as the Black agenda. But I still like the Douglass Plan though,” Charlamagne told Burnett.
Bloomberg has been facing significant backlash for repeatedly defending the stop-and-frisk police program in New York City which a U.S. federal court ruled violated the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights of African-Americans and Latinos. The multi-billionaire only apologized for backing stop-and-frisk right before announcing his presidential candidacy.
“All the criticism is deserving. I give him criticism. When it comes to things like the stop-and-frisk policy, there are people that are still being affected by that today so you always have to hold them accountable,” said Charlamagne on CNN. “I’m voting for my interest in 2020, and my interests are Black people.”
He continued, “So when I look at the Greenwood Initiative – [Bloomberg] wants to create 100,000 new Black-owned businesses, he wants a million new Black homeowners, he wants to put $70 billion into the poorest and most disenfranchised neighborhoods in the country. I have to look at that as a Black man and say, ‘That would be good for our people.'”
The Bloomberg campaign is reportedly paying social media influencers to post positive content about the 78-year-old businessman online. There have also been allegations that Bloomberg used his vast wealth to fund down-ballot candidates as a way to secure endorsements from influential Black political leaders.
As a preemptive defense against accusations of being on the politician’s payroll, Charlamagne Tha God insisted, “I’m not one of the Black people that Mayor Bloomberg bought off by the way.”