Michael Bloomberg's campaign suggested without evidence Friday that Bernie Sanders and his supporters are responsible for vandalism at the ex-mayor's field offices, even demanding the Vermont senator "immediately condemn" the attacks.
Kevin Sheekey, who manages the former New York mayor's presidential bid, revealed in an email to supporters that someone had spray-painted "F--- Bloomberg" and "Racist Oligarch" on the front-door of his campaign office in Knoxville, Tenn., overnight Thursday.
"We don't know who is responsible for this vandalism, but we do know it echoes language from the Sanders campaign and its supporters," Sheekey said. "We call on Bernie Sanders to immediately condemn these attacks and for his campaign to end the Trump-like rhetoric that is clearly encouraging his supporters to engage in behavior that has no place in our politics."
Again without evidence, Sheekey suggested Sanders' rhetoric may be to blame for recent instances of vandalism at other Bloomberg campaign offices.
He pointed to one office in Ann Arbor, Mich., on whose window someone spray-painted "Corporate Pig" last week. He also said someone scribbled "Eat the Rich" on the window of a campaign office in Flint, Mich.
"Fortunately, no one has been injured," Sheekey said. "But this needs to end before someone gets hurt."
Spokespeople for the Sanders campaign did not return requests for comment.
Sanders and some of his surrogates have in recent weeks accused Bloomberg of acting like an "oligarch" by flooding the TV market with at least $400 million worth of campaign ads.
Concurrently, the Sanders camp has hammered Bloomberg over his since-reversed defense of the NYPD's widely reviled stop-and-frisk policy.
Tensions boiled over during Wednesday night's debate in Nevada, with Sanders blasting Bloomberg for trying to "buy" the Democratic nomination and for years standing by a "racist" police practice.
Bloomberg punched back at Sanders in similarly heated terms, accusing the progressive Vermont senator of practicing "communism."
Sanders and the other Democratic presidential hopefuls have gone after Bloomberg at an increasing rate since he started soaring in some national polls amid his unmatched ad spending.
The first official verdict on Bloomberg's candidacy won't land until the Super Tuesday elections on March 3, since he's not on the ballot in the first four presidential contests.
