Capitol Weekly Podcast: Interview with Timothy L. O’Brien

Author and reporter Timothy L. O’Brien first came to national prominence with the 2005 publication ofTrump Nation, a book examining the then-TV star’s fortunes… and which claimed that Trump had vastly inflated the value of his holdings, and was not, in fact, a billionaire – or even close. Trump sued, claiming he was libeled; a judge dismissed the case. That was then; these days O’Brien is a campaign surrogate for another rich 70-something New Yorker, former NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg. O’Brien argues the case that Bloomberg is uniquely positioned to take on Trump via the unimaginable financial resources at his command. Those resources (+/- $55 Billion, but who’s counting) have made it possible for Bloomberg to outspend all other 2020 Dem presidential primary campaigns COMBINED. At 400 people, he has the largest campaign staff in California and has outspent his rivals on CA TV by orders of magnitude. His expenditures have paid dividends – he is currently polling within a couple points of former vice president Joe Biden in the state. But, California has a history of rejecting the campaigns of self-funded ultra-rich candidates (see: Whitman, Meg; Checchi, Al; Huffington, Michael); will Bloomberg buck the trend?