At a private event in 2016, then-New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg took a swing at the “progressive movement” and Sen. Elizabeth Warren while knocking President Barack Obama’s job performance.

In the audio, obtained and released by CNN on Monday, Bloomberg called the movement, which he associated with Warren, “scary.”

Bloomberg, a centrist who used to be a Republican but is now running for the Democratic presidential nomination, was asked a question about the far-right in Europe and used the opportunity to knock the Left in the United States and those who espouse liberal politics.

“The Left is arising. The progressive movement is just as scary,” he said. “Elizabeth Warren on one side and whoever you want to pick on the Republicans on the right side?”

The audio was reportedly sourced from a Goldman Sachs event on June 15, 2016. The person who leaked it to CNN claimed he worked for the company for 14 years and called on Bloomberg to drop from the race.

The now-2020 Democrat additionally appeared to joke about what his platform would be for a future presidential run.

“Well, to start, my first campaign platform would be to defend the banks, and you know how well that's gonna sell in this country,” he said.

Bloomberg spokesman Stu Loeser said the banking comments were meant as a joke. The former mayor also joked about how, if he were president, he could use Predator drones against people who had “annoyed me or screwed me.”

“It would have been a great job,” he said. “No, I mean, you think about it. You have Predators, and the Predators have missiles, and I have a list of everybody that's annoyed me or screwed me for the last 74 years, and, 'Bang, bang, bang, bang.'”

While Bloomberg was still an independent in 2012, he endorsed Obama's reelection but called the endorsement over Republican nominee Mitt Romney “backhanded” at the 2016 event.

“The second Obama election, I wrote a very backhanded endorsement of Obama,” Bloomberg said, "saying I thought he hadn't done the right thing, hadn't been good at things that I think are important, and Romney would be a better person at doing that. But Romney did not stick with the values that he had when he was governor of Massachusetts.”

Loeser defended Bloomberg's remarks about Obama.

“Regarding President Obama, he was making an important point,” Loeser said. “Everyone who read Mike's endorsement of President Obama saw that it was aimed at convincing Americans who saw merit in both candidates to vote for Obama. President Obama didn't need Mike Bloomberg to get out the vote from the strongest Obama voters."

“What Mike could and did do for President Obama is much like what he could and did do for Hillary Clinton when he spoke at the Democratic convention in 2016 — convince Americans who weren't already convinced of voting for the Democrat,” Loeser added.

Andrew Bates, a spokesman with Joe Biden’s campaign, responded to Bloomberg’s remarks in a statement, arguing the candidate is “still a Republican at heart.”

“Vice President Biden had President Obama's back every day of their partnership. In stark contrast, Michael Bloomberg turned his back on the president and our administration,” Bates told the Washington Examiner. “Now, we know that, behind closed doors, Bloomberg described his last-minute endorsement of President Obama in 2012 as 'very backhanded' and said that he thought 'Romney would be a better person at doing' the 'things that I think are important.'"

“Bloomberg may have changed his voter registration, but he's still a Republican at heart,” he added.

Warren, who is also vying for the party's nomination, also responded to the audio by tweeting out the domain ScareMikeBloomberg.com, which redirects to a donation page for her campaign.





The Washington Examiner reached out to Bloomberg’s campaign for comment but did not immediately receive a response.





The Washington Examiner's Naomi Lim contributed to this report.