Former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, a foe of President Donald Trump, is reportedly preparing for a 2020 presidential bid. Late Thursday night, it was reported that Bloomberg was set to run for president as evidenced by an effort to beat the deadline to be on the Alabama ballot.
Alabama has one of the earlier ballot deadlines among primary states.
But while Bloomberg is a fierce rival of Trump, the president dismissed any chance of the former mayor making a run for the Democratic nomination while speaking to reporters on Friday, November 8 outside of the White House.
In fact, Trump already has a nickname for the billionaire.
“There’s nobody I’d rather run against than Little Michael,” Trump said. “I‘ve known Michael Bloomberg for a long time. He said a lot of great things about Trump. But I know Michael. He became just a nothing. He’s not going to do well, but I think he’s going to hurt [Joe] Biden, actually.
“But he doesn’t have the magic to do well. He’ll spend a lot of money. He has some really big issues, some personal problems, and he’s got a lot of other problems. But I know Michael Bloomberg fairly well. Not too well, but fairly well. Well enough. He will not do well. And if he did [run], I’d be happy.”
Bloomberg initially said earlier this year that he would not be making a run for the Democratic nomination.
However, recent polls in early primary states have shown that former Vice President Joe Biden is losing support which could be a blow to the moderate wing of the party as Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren continue to close the gap.
The other moderates are South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Senator Amy Klobuchar, but Bloomberg seems to lack confidence in their ability to knock off the progressive candidates.
So while Bloomberg will be a longshot in the race, it will be interesting to see if he can gain momentum and angle towards a showdown with Trump.
