Friday night at a Bernie Sanders rally in Clive, Iowa, progressive filmmaker and activist Michael Moore blasted the Democratic National Committee for lowering the standards allowing candidates to participate in the next primary debate, saying that the rule change is an effort to help former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg buy the nomination without demonstrating popular support.



"I watched the debate in Iowa here two weeks ago -- the all-white debate -- and the fact that the Democratic, the DNC will not allow Cory Booker on that stage, will not allow Julian Castro on that stage, but they are going to allow Mike Bloomberg on the stage? Because he has a billion fucking dollars!" Moore raged.



Sanders campaign co-chair Nina Turner said this week that the addition of former Clinton staffer John Podesta to the DNC Convention Committee was a "slap in the face."



"If the DNC believes it’s going to get away in 2020 with what it did in 2016, it has another thing coming," she said.



"They are removing the rule to be on the debate stage, where it says you have to have so many people donating to you... Today they removed that rule because Mike Bloomberg, the billionaire, the Republican Mayor of New York City," Michael Moore told the crowd in Iowa, eliciting boos and jeers from the crowd.





MICHAEL MOORE: They are removing the rule to be on the debate stage, where it says you have to have so many people donating to you -- otherwise instead of 27 people on the stage we'd have 270 people on the stage. You had to show you had a certain number of Americans that would give you a buck, that's all the rule said, to show you have support. And that's how they determine who would be on the debate stage.



Today they removed that rule because Mike Bloomberg, the billionaire, the Republican Mayor of New York City--



CROWD: Boooo!



MOORE: They removed it so that he could be in the next debate. He doesn't have to show he has any support among the American people, he can just buy his way onto the debate stage, and I'm going to tell you what's so disgusting about this.



I watched the debate in Iowa here two weeks ago -- the all-white debate -- and the fact that the Democratic, the DNC will not allow Cory Booker on that stage, will not allow Julian Castro on that stage, but they are going to allow Mike Bloomberg on the stage? Because he has a billion fucking dollars!



CROWD: Yeah!



MOORE: I'm sorry. Those days are over. Those days are over.



CROWD: Cheers.



MOORE: There are TV cameras here. They're gonna have to start bleeping 5,000 people in here.





(Hat-tip: Grabien News