Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts on Monday said 2020 Democratic presidential rival Michael Bloomberg is “skipping the democracy part” of the race with a campaign that has relied on tens of millions of dollars in spending on ads thus far.

“He’s skipping the democracy part of this,” Ms. Warren told MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow.

“Get in this fight, because the alternative is Michael Bloomberg’s version of democracy,” she said. “And that is billionaires who decide among themselves who’s going to reach in [a] pocket and throw a few hundred million on the table and buy what? A nomination? Buy an election?”

“If that’s the case, then our democracy becomes something that only works for a tiny number of people, and it’s going to shut everybody else out,” she said.

Mr. Bloomberg, the billionaire businessman and former New York mayor, has defended his big-time spending on the race, saying it’s a continuation of his pouring his considerable wealth into other causes he cares about such as climate change and gun control.

His campaign said Monday that he has hired about 800 staff members across the country as part of his strategy to compete heavily on “Super Tuesday” in early March — a show of force that less well-funded candidates simply aren’t in a position to match at this point.

Mr. Bloomberg has been out on the campaign trail since entering the race in November, but he isn’t really trying to compete in the early states of Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada or South Carolina.

He is also declining donations, which means he won’t qualify for the Democratic National Committee debates unless the DNC changes its qualification metrics.

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