On Monday, former New York City mayor and multi-billionaire Michael Bloomberg officially announced he won’t run for president in 2016. This may come as a surprise to some who thought he was going to announce his presidential bid earlier this week. (Bloomberg had to announce his presidential bid this week in order to get his name on every state's ballot). In fact, it was recently reported that Bloomberg moved over his website to a server owned by Amazon, a move that implied he would likely launch a presidential run. After some deep thought, Bloomberg changed his mind.
Bloomberg, an Independent, published his decision in an article he posted on his Bloomberg View website. He wrote that Americans face a perpetually divisive government, one that is focused solely on special interests. He also said that if he were to run, there would be no candidate winning a majority of the votes, causing Congress to vote for one of the Republican front runners, likely Trump or Cruz. Bloomberg argues that a Trump win, resulting in barring Muslim immigrants from entering the country, would violate two core principles America stands for: separation of church and state and religious tolerance. Bloomberg, adding that Trump’s threats to deport Mexicans, start a trade war with China and Japan, and pretending to ignore white supremacy groups would not just divide us but also “compromise our moral leadership.” Bloomberg added that Cruz's rhetoric on immigration or barring foreign immigrants may be less bombastic than Mr. Trump's, but no less extreme and divisive. As a result, Bloomberg does not support a Cruz victory. The former mayor also said that the current Republican candidates have attacked policies that have spurred economic growth once implemented under President Reagan.
The billionaire also targeted the leading Democratic candidates, who he says attacked policies that spurred growth under President Bill Clinton such as support for trade, charter schools and deficit reduction.
Lastly, Bloomberg mentioned he would have no chance of winning the election. Recent polls suggest this is in fact the case. A recent Rasmussen poll for a hypothetical three-way match-up show Clinton with 36% support, Trump with 30%, and Bloomberg with just eight percent (8 percent) support. As a result, Bloomberg would not stand a fair chance of winning the election.
While he has yet to endorse any candidate, Bloomberg says he will not stay silent on the threat of partisan extremism that faces our nation. He will continue to urge voters to reject divisive appeals and defend candidates that offer realistic platforms unifying us rather than those that divide us.
