By Bronte Price, PoliticKING
Billionaire and former New York Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, confirmed on Monday, reports that he is considering running for president as an independent. Bloomberg told the Financial Times that he is "looking at all the options," and has not yet made a final decision. "I'm listening to what candidates are saying and what the primary voters appear to be doing," he said. The former mayor would need to begin putting his name on state ballots in March.
It has been reported that Bloomberg will only run if Hillary loses the primary to Bernie. This announcement comes just before the New Hampshire primary, the first primary of the 2016 election, which Hillary is projected to lose.
Michael Bloomberg tells the FT he is considering a run for US president. https://t.co/kTwdQqox0wpic.twitter.com/AwMPKfRG5j
— Financial Times (@FT) February 9, 2016
Bloomberg disapproves of the current presidential race, referring to it as “banal.” He told Financial Times, "I find the level of discourse and discussion distressingly banal and an outrage and an insult to the voters." He added that the American public deserves "a lot better."
According to the New York Times, Bloomberg commissioned a poll in December to see how he would fare against Clinton. He also intends to conduct a poll after the New Hampshire primary.
No Independent candidate has ever won the presidency. Sanders, who serves in the Senate as an Independent, chose to run for president as a Democrat because he wants to “win.”
Michael Bloomberg confirms he's looking into a White House run https://t.co/gj2PGJkLIR
— TIME.com (@TIME) February 9, 2016
Sanders is opposed to the idea of Bloomberg running for president because, he says, it would confirm that America “moving away from democracy to oligarchy.” Donald Trump welcomes the idea. “I would love to see Michael run,” Trump told reporters in Iowa. “I would love the competition.”When the Cruz campaign was asked about Bloomberg’s potential run, Rick Tyler, spokesman for Ted Cruz said, “Please run!”
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