Mike Bloomberg pledges to give DNC $18M to help beat Trump in November

Joey Garrison | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Mike Bloomberg ends campaign for president Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg ended his democratic presidential campaign the day after Super Tuesday.

Mike Bloomberg's presidential campaign Friday pledged to transfer $18 million to the Democratic National Committee, scrapping his campaign promise to launch a Super PAC if his presidential bid failed to instead boost the party's battleground efforts in November.

The campaign of the billionaire former New York mayor outlined the contribution in a memo to DNC chairman Tom Perez that said the money is aimed at helping Democrats "win up and down the ballot this fall."

The new resources are intended to boost the DNC’s efforts against President Donald Trump in six battleground states, in particular. The Bloomberg campaign also committed to transfer several of its former field offices to state parties and help hire for organizing, data, and operations in those six states: Arizona, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

"Mike Bloomberg entered this race to ensure Democrats win – keeping the House blue, flipping the Senate, winning key state and local races, and taking back the White House – and this commitment through November helps do exactly that," the memo reads. "By supporting the Democratic Party, we look forward to November and taking on our unified goal of beating Donald Trump."

More: Bloomberg ends his bid for the Democratic nomination, endorses Joe Biden

Bloomberg, whose net worth is valued near $60 billion, withdrew from the Democratic presidential primary this month after a disastrous Super Tuesday, failing to win a single state despite pumping $936 million into his campaign, according to his campaign's latest financial report submitted Friday.

He immediately endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden, the Democratic frontrunner, who has now built a sizable 300-plus delegate lead over Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Upon entering the race late in January, Bloomberg committed to keeping much of his campaign staff intact through November even if he lost to help the Democratic nominee. The plan was to have staff paid directly by Bloomberg, likely through a Super PAC, which by federal law must operate independently from a campaign. Instead, staffers were let go in many states after he dropped out.

"While we considered creating our own independent entity to support the nominee and hold the President accountable," the Bloomberg campaign said, "this race is too important to have many competing groups with good intentions but that are not coordinated and united in strategy and execution.

"The dynamics of the race have also fundamentally changed, and it is critically important that we all do everything we can to support our eventual nominee and scale the Democratic Party’s general election efforts."

More: Here's how much Mike Bloomberg spent on anti-Trump advertising alone

The Bloomberg campaign touted the $18 million contribution as "the largest transfer from a presidential campaign in recent history." According to the campaign, Bloomberg staff in the six states were notified Friday they will be paid through the first week of April and receive benefits through April.

It comes as Biden has asserted himself as a virtual lock to be the Democratic nominee after a string of landslide wins, including victories in Florida, Illinois and Arizona this week.

Difference between caucus and primary, explained The 2020 election is nearing and with that, comes the caucuses and primary elections. But what’s the difference?

Kate Bedingfield, deputy campaign manager of the Biden campaign, said the campaign welcomes Bloomberg's investment to ensure the "most dangerous president in modern history" is defeated.

"We need to compete with the war chest that Donald Trump, the RNC, and their right-wing allies have amassed, and this will go a long way in ensuring that we can fund the grassroots efforts in key battleground states that will be necessary to win this November," she said.

The DNC typically faces a steep fundraising disadvantage compared to the Republican National Committee during election years. As part of the DNC's “Battleground Build-Up 2020," the party last month added six more states to target with resources: Georgia, New Hampshire, Nevada, Ohio, Texas and Virginia.

More: Mike Bloomberg, in his first Democratic presidential debate, didn't get it done

In a statement, Perez said with this transfer, Bloomberg and his team "are making good on their commitment to beating Donald Trump."

"The DNC has made early, historic investments in our battleground and general election programs, and the additional organizers we're putting on the ground will significantly bolster those efforts and help make sure Donald Trump is a one-term president.”

In its memo, the Bloomberg campaign said "there is no greater threat to our democracy" than Trump, calling his handling of the coronavirus pandemic "a complete mismanagement" that has revealed the "existential threat" of the Trump presidency.

"But we should also not assume that Trump’s incompetence will be enough to make him a one-term President," the memo reads. "Trump’s ability to lie and propagate misinformation, particularly using digital tools and other means with swing voters in battleground states, will continue to ensure a close race in November. Every decision we make as Democrats must account for this."

Contributing: Associated Press

Reach Joey Garrison and on Twitter @joeygarrison.