McAuliffe Says Biden Shaking Up His Operation: Campaign Update

(Bloomberg) -- Terry McAuliffe says Joe Biden is retooling his campaign to take charge.

Speaking on a CNN panel Saturday night, the former Virginia governor and longtime Democratic fundraiser said that Biden’s campaign had not been run well.

But he said that South Carolina Representative Jim Clyburn told Biden recently that the campaign needed to be shaken up and that the former vice president was making some changes.

Biden’s “going to run his own campaign” now, he said.

In a statement sent by the Biden campaign shortly after he was projected to win South Carolina by the major news networks, McAuliffe endorsed Biden. Virginia Representative Bobby Scott then endorsed Biden as well, just days ahead of Virginia’s primary.

Iowa Finally Awards Final Delegate (7:33 p.m.)

More than a month after the bungled Iowa caucus, the state’s last delegate was finally awarded.

On Saturday afternoon, the Iowa Democratic Party certified the final results, giving another delegate to former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg.

Buttigieg won statewide by one state delegate equivalent, so through a quirk in the delegate math he wins by two delegates.

The final count from Iowa was Buttigieg 14, Bernie Sanders 12, Elizabeth Warren eight, Joe Biden six and Amy Klobuchar one.

Still, due to the delay in reporting results and other problems with the caucuses, the Associated Press declined to declare a winner in Iowa this year. -- Gregory Korte

Bloomberg Buys Airtime Anti-Virus Ad (5:22 p.m.)

Michael Bloomberg said Saturday he’s buying three minutes of airtime on CBS and NBC Sunday night for what he’s billing as an “address to the nation” on the threat of the coronavirus and to criticize President Donald Trump’s response.

“The coronavirus is spreading, and the economy is taking a hit. Markets have fallen because of uncertainty,” Bloomberg says in the commercial, according to a script released by his campaign. “At times like this it is the job of the president to reassure the public that he or she is taking all the necessary steps to protect the health and well-being of every citizen.”

(Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.)

Bloomberg has been saying all week that Trump “buried his head in the sand” instead of preparing for a possible outbreak and “his incompetence put us all at risk.” Bloomberg and other Democratic candidates have also criticized Trump for calling the outbreak a Democratic hoax, saying at an event Saturday in Virginia that “at a time when the president should be putting politics aside and rallying the American people behind him, he continues to divide by playing partisan politics.”

The spots could cost between $1.5 million and $2 million each, according to an estimate from Advertising Analytics. Bloomberg, who is self-funding his campaign, has spent more than $538 million on advertising so far.

The former New York mayor is touting his experience helping the city recover from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to make the case ahead of voting in Super Tuesday states that he’s the best manager running to defeat Trump. -- Mark Niquette

Coming Up

Fourteen states and one U.S. territory will vote on Super Tuesday, March 3.

Six states hold their primaries on March 10.

The Democrats debate again in Phoenix on March 15.

(Disclaimer: Michael Bloomberg is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination. He is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.)

--With assistance from Mark Niquette and Gregory Korte.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ryan Teague Beckwith in Washington, D.C. at rbeckwith3@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Wendy Benjaminson at wbenjaminson@bloomberg.net, Max Berley, Magan Crane

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