Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg was booed during NBC’s presidential debate on Wednesday night over answers he gave about inappropriate comments that he is alleged to have made about women in the work place.
“I hope you heard what [Bloomberg’s] defense was, ‘I’ve been nice to some women,'” Warren ranted as the crowd laughed. “That just doesn’t cut it. The mayor has to stand on his record, and what we need to know is exactly what is lurking out there. He has gotten some number of women, dozens, who knows, to sign non-disclosure agreements both for sexual harassment and for gender discrimination in the workplace.”
“So, Mr. Mayor, are you willing to release all of those women from those non-disclosure agreements so we can hear their side of the story?” Warren asked as the crowd cheered.
“We have very few non-disclosure agreements,” Bloomberg answered before being cut off.
“How many is that?” Warren pressed.
“Let me finish,” Bloomberg snapped.
“How many is that?” Warren again pressed.
“None of them accuse me of doing anything other than maybe they didn’t like a joke I told,” Bloomberg responded. “There’s an agreement between two parties that wanted to keep it quiet and that’s up to them. They signed those agreements, and we’ll live with it.”
The crowd was shocked by Bloomberg’s response.
“I just want to be clear, some is how many?” Warren pressed. “And when you say they signed them and they wanted them, if they wish now to speak out and tell their side of the story about what it is they allege, that’s now okay with you? You’re releasing them on television tonight?”
“Senator, no,” Bloomberg responded. “Senator, the company and somebody else, a man or a woman, or could be even more than that, they decided when they made an agreement that they wanted to keep it quiet for everybody’s interest. They signed the agreements and that’s what we’re going to live with.”
“No, the question is, are the women bound by being muzzled by you?” Warren asked. “And you could release them from that immediately because understand, this is not just a question of the mayor’s character, this is also a question about electability. We are not going to beat Donald Trump with a man who has who knows how many non-disclosure agreements and the drip-drip-drip of stories of women saying they have been harassed and discriminated against.”
WATCH:
Sen. Warren presses Bloomberg to address his history of treatment of women, and Bloomberg discusses non-disclosure agreements.
Warren presses Bloomberg to say number of women.
Bloomberg declines to release the women from agreements. pic.twitter.com/vR5OWnJHCO
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) February 20, 2020