Bloomberg Rips The Democratic Primary Field: ‘I Have My Reservations’
Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg criticized the 2020 Democratic primary field on Monday for the candidates’ dishonesty with the American people and their unwillingness to work across the aisle with their political adversaries.
“You know, I have my reservations about the people running and the way they are campaigning, and the promises they are making that they can’t fulfill, and their unwillingness to really admit what is possible and what is not, and their inconsistency from day to day and location after location,” Bloomberg said during an interview with CBS News host Margaret Brennan. “This is not the way to run a railroad.”
“This country is in real trouble. We need somebody to pull people together,” he continued. “And when they say ‘I’m not going to talk to somebody from across the aisle’ — this is our country. What do you mean you’re not going to talk to somebody from across the aisle? We’ve got to work together. And I don’t see that.”
Over the past decade, Bloomberg has been repeatedly floated as a potential presidential candidate. He was enmeshed in speculation about launching a bid for the presidency in 2008, 2012, and 2016. After the former New York mayor announced that he was contributing more than $100 million to Democratic candidates during the 2018 congressional elections and subsequently changed his party registration to Democrat, rumors of his impending entry into the 2020 race again began swirling.
While Bloomberg is largely aligned with Democrats on a range of issues like climate change and gun control, he prides himself on being a pro-business capitalist and would therefore likely run to represent the centrist lane of the Democratic party.
However, Bloomberg revealed in March 2019 that he would not be jumping into the upcoming Democratic primaries, and instead urged Americans to “nominate a Democrat who will be in the strongest position to defeat [President] Donald Trump.” He also warned the Democratic Party about primary candidates pivoting too far to the left and consequently dragging the rest of the party to an extreme.
Interestingly, Bloomberg reportedly signaled to multiple people earlier in October that he was still mulling over a bid, contingent on former Vice President Joe Biden ending his presidential campaign.
“I think it’s something he wants. He has not been shy about that,” an anonymous source closely tied to Bloomberg told CNBC. “[But] nothing can happen unless Biden drops out, and that’s not happening anytime soon.”
CNBC also reported that Bloomberg, who has an estimated net worth of more than $50 billion, was prepared to spend more than the $100 million that he spent while he was running for mayor of New York City. In addition to entering the presidential race with a well-funded campaign, he would also have a significant amount of name recognition.
Accordingly, Brennan pressed Bloomberg further on the possibility of being a late add to the Democratic race.
“I put out a statement in March saying and outlining why I was not running for president,” Bloomberg replied. “And nothing’s changed other than the calendar.”
“So you’re kind of closing the door?” Brennan asked.
“No, I didn’t say that,” he responded. “It’s just X number of months later and nothing’s changed.”
