Jon Ralston, editor of The Nevada Independent, posted a photo of the advertisement in the Thursday edition of the Adelson-owned Las Vegas Review-Journal. “Here’s how much Sheldon Adelson pays under Elizabeth Warren’s wealth tax in the first year: $2,300,000,000,” the ad reads, noting that this would be less than 6 percent of the casino mogul’s fortune.
“I think that’s called chutzpah,” Ralston quipped in his tweet sharing the ad.
Adelson, whom Forbes estimates to be worth about $39.4 billion, is one of the Republican Party’s most prominent contributors. He will host a high-dollar dinner fundraiser for President Donald Trump’s re-election at his Las Vegas home on March 12, Politico reported this week. Those who wish to attend are being asked to contribute $100,000 just to get in, while those who want to take part in a roundtable discussion are asked to shell out $250,000.
Warren, like current Democratic front-runner Senator Bernie Sanders, has been a staunch critic of billionaires and growing wealth inequality in America. That criticism took center stage during the Democratic debate on Wednesday evening, as Warren tore into billionaire Mike Bloomberg, who has recently surged in opinion polls.
“Democrats take a huge risk if we just substitute one arrogant billionaire for another,” Warren said. The senator criticized Bloomberg’s record on sexual harassment claims at his company as well as his “stop and frisk” policy while he was New York’s mayor. The policy is now widely viewed as racist.
Bloomberg, whom Forbes says is worth $65.2 billion, launched his unconventional campaign in late November. He has foregone seeking grass-roots support and skipped campaigning in early-voting states, instead choosing to spend hundreds of millions of his fortune to convince voters nationwide through television ads. Warren, Sanders and several other candidates have argued that the billionaire and former Republican is essentially attempting to “buy” the election.
“He is a threat because he’s already dropped $400 million in this campaign,” Warren said during a post-debate interview with MSNBC on Wednesday evening. “And understand this: After his performance tonight, I have no doubt he is about to drop tonight another $100 million in this campaign.”
Bloomberg performed poorly in the Las Vegas debate, even drawing gasps and boos from the audience when he suggested that women who have alleged he made misogynistic remarks just “didn’t like a joke I told.”
Warren, who has slipped in national polls as Bloomberg has surged, made the case that a candidate like Bloomberg can’t win against Trump in the general election.
“Democrats are not going to win if we have a nominee who has a history of hiding his tax returns, of harassing women and of supporting racist policies like red-lining and stop and frisk,” she said during the debate.