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Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced Thursday that he will speak at the Democratic National Convention that kicks off Monday in Wisconsin, which is irritating some of the party’s more progressive voters.
Bloomberg, who dropped out of the presidential race in March, was not on the original list released by the DNC Tuesday, but in a tweet Thursday the billionaire announced that he would in fact be giving a speech next week.
"This November, America has the opportunity to turn the page on the last four years & invest in our future," Bloomberg tweeted. "That starts at the @DemConvention when we nominate @JoeBiden & @KamalaHarris. I'm honored to be speaking at the DNC next week. I hope you'll join us."
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Bloomberg will be joining some of the most popular figures in the Democratic Party giving speeches, including the Obamas, the Clintons, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez D-N.Y., Sen. Bernie Sanders I-Vt., former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg and vice presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif.
Bloomberg will reportedly give his speech Thursday, the same night that presidential candidate Joe Biden will give his acceptance speech.
A few key figures from the Democratic Party are missing from the night's events, including former National Security Adviser Susan Rice and former congresswoman Stacey Abrams, D-Ga., who were both front runners to join the ticket with Biden as his Vice President.
But progressives on Twitter also pointed to a few previous presidential candidates in the Democratic party that were omitted from the list of speakers including Julian Castro, who dropped from the race in January, and Rep. Beto O'Rourke. O'Rourke made a name for himself by narrowly losing to Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, during a Senate race in 2018 -- although his presidential campaign was not as successful and he dropped from the race in November 2019.
“Legit ridiculous. Especially having someone like Mike Bloomberg who cough cough as a reminder stop & frisked Black and Latino youth in the city of NY for years!” Nelini Stamp, the National Organizing Director for the Working Families Party, said on Twitter Thursday.
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A former senior adviser to Castro also took to Twitter to voice his dismay of the decision to have Bloomberg address voters from the DNC.
“It’s completely unacceptable that there are as many Republicans speaking at the convention as Latinos,” Sawyer Hackett said Thursday.
Former presidential candidate Andrew Yang also voiced his disappointment on not being asked to speak.
“I’ve got to be honest I kind of expected to speak,” he said earlier this week.
Though he announced via Twitter that he was later added to the DNC list of speakers.
“And it’s official - we have been added to the DNC Convention speaker lineup! Thank you #YangGang and everyone else who made this happen!
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Several Twitter accounts responded to the tweets protesting the DNC’s choice of Bloomberg over a more progressive Democrat like Castro -- advising against infighting and to focus on getting Trump out of office.
Bloomberg is one of the more moderate democrats giving speeches next week, though plenty of more left-leaning political figures will be there like Ocasio-Cortez, Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.
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