Jodie Foster directs new Bloomberg-backed midterm ad

Former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg. CNN photo.

Former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg has a new ally in his effort to help Democrats ahead of the midterms: Oscar-winning actor and director Jodie Foster.

Bloomberg's political action committee, Independence USA, released a star-studded digital ad, directed by Foster, targeting women voters.

The ad starts with actress Téa Leoni posing a straight forward question: "If somebody asked you: what do you care about? What would you say?"

Other high-profile women of all ages respond with a litany of issues, including health care, immigration and equal rights. Among the celebrities featured: Sophia Bush, Cher, Minnie Driver, Julianne Moore and Olivia Munn.

"Women's voices are being listened to in a way that they haven't been before. And it's not just women candidates. It's women voters and women activists," said Foster.

Women, especially in suburban districts, are seen as pivotal to Democratic chances of taking back the House in the midterms.

"The good news is that more women are running than ever before, and female voters overwhelmingly support Democratic candidates for the House and Senate," said Bloomberg in a press release about the ad. "The polls suggest a gender gap in voting larger than any time since the 1950s. But this election will be decided by turnout and getting people to cast their ballots."

Bloomberg is openly flirting with a presidential run in 2020. The former New York mayor recently re-registered as a Democrat and has become an open antagonist of Trump heading into the midterms. The billionaire has pumped more than $110 million into efforts to support Democratic candidates around the country.

In an exclusive interview with CNN on Monday, the billionaire said Trump is partly responsible for the rise in hate and violence.

"When he goes around getting people to scream and hate, bad things happen and you saw the results here," said Bloomberg. He went on to say that the President "should be unifying and instead he is exciting people, inciting people."

He also expressed caution about the President's visit to Pittsburgh after last weekend's shooting inside a synagogue there claimed 11 lives.

When asked whether the President, a self-described nationalist, is the right person to console the community now, Bloomberg responded by saying the local community should decide but also issued a warning.

"But to stage a photo-op that would just be a photo-op and not result in any meaningful change -- that they shouldn't do," Bloomberg said, referring to local community. "If they could ever get a commitment from the President that they would believe he would do something about what's been happening then yes, but if it's not that -- just to be a stage for another of the same kind of ranting -- that makes no sense at all to me."

To see the “Vote Because It Matters” ad directed by Jodie Foster, click here.

By Cristina Alesci, CNN. The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2018 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.

The Gayly – October 31, 2018 @ 4 p.m. CDT.