Barney Frank: ‘Great Deal’ of Bloomberg’s Record Is ‘Real Problem’ for Democrats

Former Democrat congressman and network contributor Barney Frank told CNBC’s Squawk Box on Friday that 2020 White House candidate Michael Bloomberg’s past policies will likely prevent him from winning his party’s nomination.

A partial transcript is as follows: 

REBECCA QUICK: Are you surprised to see Mike Bloomberg already jumping into fifth place, even though he only announced in the last week that he’s going to be running for president?

BARNEY FRANK: No, because what’s more important about fifth place is that it’s three percent. That’s a very, very low number. He has an enormous amount of money that he’s pumping in ads. He’s got a very high-profile name. I’m not surprised he’s at three percent, which I said is the relevant statistic. … There’s a great deal in Mike Bloomberg’s record that is a real problem for many Democratic voters. I’m personally aware of his opposition to financial reform. In 2006, he was calling for even more deregulation, just before the crisis. He opposed almost all serious regulation. He has a record for raising money for Tom DeLay. With all his money and celebrity, three percent isn’t a very impressive number.

QUICK: You don’t think he’s going to be able to survive the Democratic primary?

FRANK: Oh, no. As I said, there’s even more negative about him, more that will come out. I do think that the most interesting statistic there is: take the two candidates who have talked about being more aimed at beating Trump and more cognizant of the political constraints on very far-reaching measures, Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg. They together have many, many more votes than Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders.