Former New York mayor Mike Bloomberg took a lot of hits at Wednesday night’s Democratic primary debate — but this one came from a moderator.
“Mayor Bloomberg, should you exist?” NBC’s Chuck Todd asked Bloomberg.
The question was a reference to Sen. Bernie Sanders’ statements that billionaires shouldn’t exist.
“I can’t speak for all billionaires,” Bloomberg responded.
“All I know is, I’ve been very lucky, made a lot of money and I’m giving it all away to make this country better a good chunk of it has gone to the Democratic party.”
The “Meet the Press” host followed up with: “Is it too much? Should you have earned that much money?”
Bloomberg said that he earned the money fair and square.
“Yes. I worked very hard for it,” he said.
Moments earlier, the Vermont lawmaker had railed against economic inequality.
“We have a grotesque and immoral distribution of wealth and income,” the Democratic Socialist said.
“Mike Bloomberg owns more wealth than the bottom 125 million Americans. That’s wrong, that’s immoral.”
Meant as a jab or not, Todd’s follow-up existential question didn’t go unnoticed on Twitter.
“WHAT KIND OF FU–ING QUESTION,” wrote one person.
“Almost pissed my pants,” added another user.