Blankfein Wonders Why Sanders Is Picking on Him: Campaign Update

(Bloomberg) -- Lloyd Blankfein says he can’t figure out why Bernie Sanders is picking on him.

“I think he’s always looked down on me because he grew up in a fancier neighborhood in Brooklyn,” Blankfein said in a tweet.

Earlier this week, Sanders gleefully published a list of “anti-endorsements” on his presidential campaign website -- a compilation of negative comments by luminaries of Wall Street and beyond, including JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, Blankfein and former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan. Blankfein is quoted as saying “It has the potential to be a dangerous moment,” referring to Sanders’s presidential campaign.

Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, has made taking on Wall Street a mainstay of his campaign. On his website, the Vermont senator approvingly quotes Franklin Roosevelt, asking that readers “judge me by the enemies I have made.”

Trump Targets Key Swing States of Wisconsin, Ohio (12:10 a.m.)

President Donald Trump headed to Wisconsin and Ohio on Friday, looking to raise cash and tout his economic accomplishments in two states that will prove key to his re-election fight.

In Milwaukee, Trump is expected to talk about efforts to pass his replacement for the North American Free Trade Agreement at the plant of Lockheed Martin Corp. subsidiary Derco Aerospace Inc., which provides parts for the C-130 Hercules transport plane, the F-16 Fighting Falcon combat jet and the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter. Later, he’ll attend a fundraising lunch with about 180 supporters where he’s expected to raise $3 million, according to the Republican National Committee.

The president can’t take Wisconsin and Ohio for granted. In 2016, he was the first Republican since Ronald Reagan to win Wisconsin, though by a very thin margin. And the president’s path to re-election relies on retaining Ohio, which former President Barack Obama won twice but where Trump defeated Hillary Clinton by nearly 8 percentage points. The two states’ economies are heavily dependent on manufacturing and farming, which have taken a hit from the administration’s ongoing trade dispute with China.

Before leaving on the trip, the president reiterated his criticism of Wisconsin native and former House Speaker Paul Ryan. The former Republican vice presidential candidate was quoted in a forthcoming book saying that Trump knew nothing about government and that those around the president stopped him “from making bad decisions.”

“Paul Ryan was a terrible speaker,” Trump told reporters as he departed Washington. “Frankly he was a baby. He didn’t know what the hell he was doing.”

From Wisconsin, Trump heads to Ohio, where he’ll attend a fundraising dinner outside of Cleveland. The RNC says about 400 people are expected to attend, raising $4 million. -- Justin Sink

Castro Scolds Biden as ‘Wrong’ on Immigration

Democratic presidential candidates on Thursday presented their immigration visions to a Hispanic audience, setting out their differences but vowing to undo President Donald Trump’s policies.

The town hall in Milwaukee hosted by the League of United Latin American Citizens was attended by former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, and former Representative Beto O’Rourke.

Castro assailed some of his Democratic rivals and defended his proposal to decriminalize migration.

“Vice President Biden is wrong on this. And Congressman O’Rourke is wrong on this,” Castro said, a line that evoked a fiery exchange he had with O’Rourke at the first debate of the 2020 race last month.

O’Rourke made a plea for a more compassionate immigration policy. “Let’s forever after never criminalize another person who comes to this country seeking refuge or asylum at our border,” he said.

Warren, who unveiled an immigration plan Thursday, said Trump’s answer for Americans’ problems is to “blame people who don’t look like you, who don’t sound like you, who don’t play like you, who weren’t born where you were born.” -- Sahil Kapur

Here’s What Happened Thursday:

• An NBC/Wall Street Journal poll released Thursday showed former Vice President Joe Biden still leading the Democratic primary field, though Warren is steadily gaining ground. Biden leads with 26%, and he is followed by Warren with 19%. Senator Kamala Harris and Sanders are tied with 13%. South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg pulled in 7%. O’Rourke and entrepreneur Andrew Yang are at 2%. None of the other candidates topped 1%.
• In his first major foreign policy speech of the campaign, Biden said Thursday that as president he would restore the U.S.’s global standing and reverse many of Trump’s actions. Biden and his advisers see foreign policy as an area of clear strength for him given his long experience and voters’ understanding of his powerful role in the administration of President Barack Obama. The speech also was a return to more directly taking on Trump after fending off attacks from his Democratic rivals.

--With assistance from Sahil Kapur, Justin Sink and Emma Kinery.

To contact the reporter on this story: Catherine Dodge in New York at cdodge1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Joe Sobczyk at jsobczyk@bloomberg.net, Steve Geimann

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