Michael Bloomberg Apologizes For Being ‘Disrespectful’ To Women
Image by getty images
(JTA) — Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is said to be preparing to become a Democratic presidential candidate, apologized for using “disrespectful” language about women.
Bloomberg, who is Jewish, apologized through a spokesman in a New York Times article published Thursday.
“Mike has come to see that some of what he has said is disrespectful and wrong,” Stu Loeser, the spokesperson, said in the statement Thursday. “He believes his words have not always aligned with his values and the way he has led his life.”
The rhetoric appeared in a booklet that employees of Bloomberg’s private firm gave him in 1990. It contained quotes attributed to him.
“If women wanted to be appreciated for their brains, they’d go to the library instead of Bloomingdale’s,” Bloomberg was quoted as saying in the booklet, titled “The Portable Bloomberg: The Wit and Wisdom of Michael Bloomberg.”
Bloomberg also joked, according to the booklet, that the Bloomberg terminal, a reference to a product produced by Bloomberg’s digital data company, could “do everything,” including oral sex. “I guess that puts a lot of you girls out of business,” Bloomberg is quoted saying.
Some of Bloomberg’s controversial statements became campaign fodder during his successful 2001 race for mayor, running on the Republican and Independence Party lines.
Bloomberg came under fire after being quoted in a 1998 deposition that he’d believe a rape claim if there was “an unimpeachable third-party witness”. A saleswoman claimed a Bloomberg manager raped her. That’s “not what he believes,” Loeser said Thursday.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
