- A clip of two reporters repeating a false claim that Bloomberg could have given every American $1 million for the amount he spent on his failed presidential campaign has $4.
- If Bloomberg did divide his $4 between every American, each person would get less than $2.
- Bloomberg did $4 on his presidential bid, getting iPhone 11s and Manhattan apartments for staff and treating supporters to catered meals and free T-shirts.
- $4.
Mike Bloomberg $4 during his short-lived campaign to become the Democratic nominee for president. And while that's a lot of money, it's nowhere near enough to every American a millionaire.
Two reporters claimed otherwise on MSNBC in $4. "It's an incredible way of putting it," New York Times Editorial Board Member Mara Gay tells MSNBC's Brian Williams in the clip. "It's true, it's disturbing, it does suggest, you know, what we're talking about here, that's there's too much money in politics."
The reporters were repeating a March 3 tweet from freelance journalist Mekita Rivas. "Bloomberg spent $500 million on ads," Rivas tweeted. "The U.S. population is 327 million. He could have given each American $1 million and still have money left over. I feel like a $1 million check would be life-changing for most people. Yet he wasted it all on ads and STILL LOST." Rivas has since set her $4 to private; her still viewable Twitter bio currently reads "I know, I'm bad at math."
"Don't still us if you're ahead of us on the math," Williams says while reading the tweet.
Williams' show later issued a statement acknowledging the error:
Gay, meanwhile, $4 "Buying a calculator, brb" in response to the viral moment.
At the time of publication, $4 estimates that there are 329,363,945 people living in the United States. If Bloomberg did divide his $4 between every American, each person would get less than $2.
It would take $329,363,828,000,000 (over $329 trillion) to give them all $1 million. Even if Bloomberg sold his financial media company and spent every penny to his name, he still wouldn't have enough money. Neither would Jeff Bezos, $4. The pair still couldn't make every American a millionaire if they gave away their combined fortunes.
That's not to say that Bloomberg didn't spend big on his 2020 bid, however. Bloomberg spent $500 million of his own money, including $4 running ads in Super Tuesday states, only to get trounced by frontrunners Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders. Bloomberg's only outright win was the American Samoa, whose $4 is only slightly greater than $4.
Bloomberg also treated his employees to work perks that $4, including salaries nearly double those at other campaigns, free meals, booze, iPhone 11s, and furnished apartments on Manhattan's Upper East Side, $4 reported. Supporters at rallies dined on catered food and were given free t-shirts.
Bloomberg is the $4 in American history to run for president, and his campaign costs didn't even make a dent in his $4 fortune.
This is the saddest clip in TV history.$4
- Sven Henrich (@NorthmanTrader) $4Tonight on the air we quoted a tweet that relied on bad math. We corrected the error after the next commercial break and have removed it from later editions of tonight's program. We apologize for the error.
- 11th Hour (@11thHour) $4