Clash of the Billionaires! Bloomberg Wants to Take On Trump in 2020

Last updated on September 25th, 2023 at 02:08 pm

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It might be labelled as “The Clash of New York Billionaires.” It could also be called a contest between a real billionaire and a fake billionaire.

Regardless of what we call it, the truth is that former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg wants to run for president. Apparently he thinks that he — along with his $52 billion — is just the man to beat Donald Trump in 2020.

Forbes has consistently ranked Bloomberg among the top ten richest Americans, and he also has executive experience in a job many consider the toughest in America. These things separate him from the current occupant of the Oval Office.

According to a report in the Times of London yesterday Bloomberg is very serious about running for president.

The report says Bloomberg, who considered running as an independent for the White House in 2008, 2012, and 2016, is going to run as a Democrat.

He has told confidants that he is planning to join the presidential race, in which other prominent public figures could follow the example of Donald Trump and throw their hats in the presidential nominating ring.

“Mike Bloomberg told me he is going to run in 2020,” a source said. “He has the money to see it through while other candidates knock themselves out.”

This isn’t the first indication we’ve had that Bloomberg, whose net worth of $52 billion has been verified by Forbes, is seriously considering a White House run in 2020. In June of this year it was reported that he told the attendees of a New York fundraiser that he’s “revving up for 2020.” Previous to that he had been noncommittal, and when asked about a 2020 run he had said, “I suppose I could, but have no plans to run for president.”

At this point nobody knows how much support Bloomberg would receive from Democrats who will be voting in 2020 presidential primaries. Apparently there is one notorious Republican operative who has endorsed a bid by the 76-year-old Bloomberg.

“If I were a Democrat strategist … and somebody said to me, ‘Who do you want to be the Democrat nominee for president of the United States?’ there’s only one name I would choose … and his name is Michael Bloomberg,” former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski was reported as saying last month.

From all appearances the 2020 Democratic presidential field will be one of the most crowded in history. We’ll have the old (Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren) against the new (Kamala Harris and Corey Booker). We’ll have the early announcers (Michael Avenatti) and plenty of others who are thinking about it but haven’t made their intentions public yet.

With respect to Bloomberg, however, Democrats will have to decide whether he is the man they want to lead their party in a post-Trump world. There is no question that he is a partisan Democrat as we have reported before.

In June he announced he was donating $80 million of his personal fortune to help elect Democrats in New York this election cycle.

In April he wrote a $4.5 million check to cover this year’s U.S. financial commitment to the Paris Climate Agreement.

Michael Bloomberg is not someone to take lightly. If he does in fact run for president, his candidacy in 2020 will add an entirely new wrinkle to the race to succeed Donald Trump in the White House.

Leo Vidal

I am a lifelong Democrat with a passion for social justice and progressive issues. I have degrees in writing, economics and law from the University of Iowa.