In this photograph provided by “Meet the Press,” New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg speaks on NBC’s “Meet the Press” in Washington Sunday, Aug. 9, 2009. Bloomberg opened with remarks about midair collision between a helicopter and, and a single-engine plane over the Hudson Saturday, which killed nine people, including a 15-year-old boy, and Italian tourists on a tour helicopter. Bloomberg said a recovery effort is still underway, that both aircraft are in 30 feet of water with low visibility, that a couple of bodied had been recovered, and that the search would continue until all bodies are found. (AP Photo/NBC, William B. Plowman)

Former New York City Mayor and Democratic presidential hopeful Michael Bloomberg has become quite popular lately after buying his way onto the stage. Former Vice President Joe Biden’s disastrous showing in Iowa and New Hampshire seems to have paved the way for Bloomberg, and his increase in popularity has inspired a series of attacks within the progressive movement that appear to be intended to derail his campaign.

Earlier this week, audio of a 2015 speech in which the candidate defended the controversial Stop and Frisk policy emerged. Bloomberg was already facing allegations of racism, and this new development didn’t exactly help.

But now, it seems that the Bloomberg campaign is attempting to ward off another political assault. Recently, the Drudge Report reported that sources familiar with Bloomberg’s campaign told them that the “candidate is considering Hillary Clinton,” as his potential running mate. In fact, the news site explained that “Bloomberg himself would go as far as to change his official residence from New York to homes he owns in Colorado or Florida, since the electoral college makes it hard for a POTUS and VPOUTS from the same state.”

The release of this information seems rather convenient considering the fact that yet another story emerged yesterday that could cause tremendous damage to the Bloomberg campaign. The Washington Post published a piece detailing Bloomberg’s history of sexual harassment allegations and his penchant for making inappropriate remarks about women.

According to The Washington Post, Bloomberg has “faced several lawsuits from female employees who have alleged that the former New York City mayor maintained a hostile workplace for women in the office in the 1990s.” The women who filed the suits have been bound by confidentiality agreements, which means they are not allowed to speak about their cases.

One of the most high-profile cases involved a former female salesperson named Sekiko Sakai Garrison, who worked for Bloomberg’s company who sued both the candidate himself as well as his corporation. The suit alleges that both discriminated against her based on her gender. In one instance, she claimed that he told her to “kill it” when he found out that she was pregnant.

Garrison’s lawsuit also details an instance in which Bloomberg allegedly told female employees that a male co-worker was getting married and said: “All of you girls line up to give him [oral sex] as a wedding present.” The suit also alleges that when the candidate saw “certain women,” he said, “I’d f— that in a second.”

In yet another incident, the suit alleges that Bloomberg “was unhappy with the outcome of a business meeting.” He asked a newly-hired female salesperson, “If [clients] told you to lay down and strip naked so they could f— you, would you do that too?”

The list appears to go on and on, and in the #MeToo era, a story like this could potentially destroy any chances he has of securing the nomination unless his campaign manages to pull off a phenomenal display of damage control, which brings us to the story about Clinton. Perhaps members of Bloomberg’s campaign decided to leak the story of Clinton’s consideration for VP hoping that it would provide at least a partial distraction from The Post’s story. Indeed, as of today, there are plenty of headlines on both stories. But will it be enough?

The Bloomberg campaign’s distraction may have dulled the blow from The Post’s story, but it certainly hasn’t mitigated the bad P.R. Unless his team has more tricks up their sleeve, this story will likely continue to dog the candidate, even if he secures the nomination. Either way, he better hope they don’t have any more damning stories lurking in the background.

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