A Michael Bloomberg adviser was cut down to size by a New York Times reporter Thursday after trying to claim the Democratic presidential candidate was not self-conscious about his height.
Times White House correspondent Maggie Haberman disputed one reporter's claim that the Bloomberg campaign was secretly happy about President Donald Trump calling the former New York City mayor a "5'4" mass of dead energy."
"The height thing is one of the few things that actually bothers the candidate," Haberman said in a tweet.
In short order, the tweet drew the ire of Bloomberg senior adviser Tim O'Brien. "The 'height thing' actually doesn't bother Mike, Maggie," he shot back. "Size matters to Trump. But it's the size of the deficit, the size of Trump's ego, and the scale of our Constitutional crisis that do actually bother Mike."
The 'height thing" actually doesn’t bother Mike, Maggie.
Size matters to Trump.
But it’s the size of the deficit, the size of Trump’s ego, and the scale of our Constitutional crisis that do actually bother Mike. https://t.co/NuClsH15I9
— Tim O'Brien (@TimOBrien) February 13, 2020
A lifelong New Yorker who covered city politics for the New York Post and the New York Daily News during Bloomberg's mayoralty, Haberman didn't back down. "I'm going to disagree with you as someone who covered him in his 2001 campaign and for many years after, Tim," she responded. "Typically people who are not bothered don't put down the wrong height on their driver's license."
As the Washington Free Beacon has reported, there is ample evidence the billionaire misrepresented his height, listing himself as a full three inches too tall on his driver's license.
A doctor's note released by the Bloomberg campaign in December indicates the candidate is 5-foot-7. Bloomberg has given wildly contradictory answers about his height, telling reporters at various times he was 5-foot-10, "in the ballpark" of 6-foot-1, and in one unguarded moment in 2006, "a 5-foot-7 billionaire Jew."
Bloomberg was even spotted using a box to boost his height during his first mayoral inauguration. The Daily News reported at the time that the billionaire was "somewhat sensitive about his height."