Trump and Bloomberg throw supersized jabs

Supersized rivalry

Super Bowl Sunday marked the start of an event-filled week for President Donald Trump and the Democrats looking to unseat him in November.

Closing arguments in Trump’s Senate impeachment trial are set to begin Monday as Iowa Democrats head out to caucus Monday evening and weigh in on the winnowing field of presidential hopefuls. Sandwiched between Tuesday’s State of the Union and Friday’s Democratic primary debate, the Senate is expected to acquit Trump in a vote scheduled for Wednesday.

While Michael Bloomberg, a late entrant to the 2020 Democratic primary, is skipping out on the Iowa contest, his steady climb in polling and massive campaign spending had made him Trump’s latest top target. Both moguls went head-to-head on Super Bowl Sunday, using Twitter, multimillion-dollar TV ads and competing interviews to trade barbs, reports Newsday’s Laura Figueroa Hernandez.

Trump, in a pretaped interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity that aired as part of Fox’s Super Bowl coverage, spent the bulk of an eight-minute sit-down session taking aim at Bloomberg, the former New York City mayor staging a self-financed presidential bid.

The president, who repeatedly has taken aim at Bloomberg’s 5-foot-8 stature, accused his billionaire rival of requesting a box to stand on if he qualifies for future presidential debates. Bloomberg’s campaign immediately shot back, calling Trump “a pathological liar.”

“Why should he get a box to stand on?” Trump told Hannity, repeating an unsubstantiated claim that he made in a series of Sunday tweets posted just after midnight. “Why should he be entitled to that, really? Then does that mean everyone else gets a box?”

Bloomberg campaign spokeswoman Julie Wood said in a statement that Trump “is a pathological liar who lies about everything: his fake hair, his obesity, and his spray-on tan.”

Ad Wars

Trump took in the big game at his Mar-a-Lago resort, where members paid to attend his annual Super Bowl Sunday bash.

Trump and Bloomberg each dropped $10 million to air campaign ads during the NFL championship match.

Bloomberg opted for a 60-second ad focused on his support for anti-gun violence initiatives. Trump opted for two 30-second ads, one that focused on his economic record and another on his criminal justice reform efforts.

‘Maybe not the “perfect call” ’

With Trump headed to a likely acquittal by the Republican-majority Senate this week, several GOP senators sought to lay out their rationale.

Senate Republicans making the Sunday-show rounds conceded that Trump’s conduct was "inappropriate" and "imperfect," but most argued that his dealings with Ukraine did not rise to the level of removing the president from office.

Sen. Lamar Alexander, the moderate Tennessee Republican who Democrats had hoped would side with their call for hearing witnesses, told NBC’s “Meet the Press” it was up to “the people” to decide whether they would hold Trump accountable — with their votes.

"I think he shouldn't have done it. I think it was wrong. Inappropriate was the way I'd say. Improper. Crossing the line. And then the only question left is who decides what to do about it," Alexander said.

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) told CNN’s “State of the Union” that while she believes the president “has a lot of latitude to do what he wants to,” his actions with regard to Ukraine were “not what I would have done.

“Maybe not the 'perfect call.' Generally speaking ... he did it maybe in the wrong manner. I think he could've done in through different channels,” Ernst said.

For a full recap of the Sunday shows, read a story by Newsday’s Scott Eidler.

Possible Bolton subpoena?

Lead House impeachment manager Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said it was not enough for Senate Republicans to call out Trump’s actions as “inappropriate” without voting to hear more evidence in his Senate trial.

Schiff, speaking to CBS’ “Face the Nation,” said that regardless of whether Trump’s acquittal seems inevitable, the House impeachment managers on Monday will continue to make their case for the president’s removal.

“I'm not letting the senators off the hook. We're still going to go into the Senate this week and make the case why this president needs to be removed,” Schiff said. “It will be up to the senators to make that final judgment, and the senators will be held accountable for it.”

He said the months of impeachment inquiry depositions, public hearings and proceedings still could be considered fruitful.

“By exposing [the president’s] wrongdoing, we are helping to slow the momentum away from our democratic values until that progress away from democracy can be arrested and we can return to some sense of normalcy and support for the founders' ideal,” the California Democrat continued.

Schiff demurred when asked if House Democrats would subpoena former national security adviser John Bolton, after the Senate voted against the prospect of hearing from the likes of Bolton about his firsthand knowledge of Trump’s order to withhold military aid from Ukraine.

“But I will say this: Whether it's before — in testimony before the House or it's in his book or it's in one form or another — the truth will continue to come out,” Schiff said.

Janison: Trade made for high points

Two high-profile trade ceremonies served as high points for the Trump administration in a rough opening month of the election year, writes Newsday’s Dan Janison.

The preliminary pact with China, approved Jan. 15, is advertised as opening more Chinese markets to U.S. companies, increasing farm and fuel exports and easing some tariffs on Chinese goods while preserving most of them.

The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement also provided the White House with another victory to tout. The deal was celebrated last week at a White House ceremony, where Trump was surrounded by Republican supporters on stage.

Not in attendance? Congressional Democrats who were not invited to the event, despite backing the deal’s passage.

The high points don't always lead to taking the high road.

What else is happening:

• Bloomberg is opening a 2020 campaign office on Long Island, reports Newsday’s Candice Ferrette. The Mineola field office will be one of 15 throughout the state.
• John Kerry, one of the most prominent campaign surrogates for former Vice President Joe Biden, denied reports that he is weighing a 2020 presidential run, after an NBC News analyst overheard Kerry speaking by phone in the bustling lobby of an Iowa hotel.
• The final sprint of campaigning in Iowa also included some Sunday talk show appearances by Democratic underdog candidates Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar and Andrew Yang. Newsday's Eidler reported on their promises to stay in the race, no matter Monday's outcome.
• An image retweeted by Trump, depicting Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in front of an Iranian flag, was denounced by Long Island Muslim groups and their supporters, who argue the tweet promoted Islamophobia and served as a call to action to get more people registered to vote. Newsday’s Deborah Morris has the story.
• The White House is studying the potential economic impact of China’s coronavirus outbreak on the U.S. economy. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has indicated the contagion could lead some businesses to move their operations back to the U.S., reports The Washington Post.