Democratic presidential candidate and former New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg talks to supporters at a rally on February 20, 2020 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Image by George Frey/Getty Images

By Aiden Pink February 24, 2020

Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s Chicago campaign office was vandalized with the words “racist,” sexist,” “GOP” and “oligarch” on Sunday, an act that Bloomberg’s campaign manager blamed on rival Sen. Bernie Sanders’ “willingness to condone and promote Trump-like rhetoric.”

Several Bloomberg campaign offices around the country have been defaced in the last month, according to the campaign, with multiple instances of defacement using the word “oligarch.” While no suspects have been arrested in these cases, Bloomberg campaign manager Kevin Sheekey said that Sanders and the senator’s supporters had frequently used the word to describe the billionaire businessman and former New York mayor.

Sheekey previously made such claims after a similar “oligarch” vandalism incident in Knoxville, Tennessee last week; the Sanders campaign declined to comment to Reuters about that event.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “oligarch” as a supporter of an oligarchy, which means “government by the few.”

Aiden Pink is the deputy news editor of the Forward. Contact him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @aidenpink

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$90 $180

$360

Other amount