Michael Bloomberg On His Democratic Rivals: ‘Donald Trump Would Eat Them Up’
In an interview with CBS broadcast on Friday, billionaire and Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg said that President Donald Trump would easily defeat any of his rivals in a general election, reports Salon.
Explaining his decision to enter the crowded Democratic primary field, Bloomberg said he “looked at our national government getting worse.”
“The way we were behaving overseas and domestically, led by our president,” the billionaire said. “I said back in 2016 [Trump] is the wrong person for the job. He doesn’t have the temperament, the ethics or the intellect to do the job.
“I watched, and I said, ‘We just can’t have another four years of this,'” the former New York City mayor added, dismissing his fellow White House hopefuls, and suggesting they don’t stand a chance against Trump.
“Then I watched all of the candidates, and I just thought to myself, ‘Donald Trump would eat them up.'”
The billionaire asserted that he is the best candidate, and the only person capable of beating Trump, arguing that he “would do the best job of competing with him and beating him.”
Bloomberg announced his presidential bid in November. Signaling that he will run an unconventional campaign, the billionaire said he will largely ignore the key early states of Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina, focusing instead on Super Tuesday states like Texas and California.
Since jumping into the race, Bloomberg has already spent more than $57 million on television advertisements, far more than any other person running for president. Bloomberg is therefore set to outpace the other Democratic billionaire, Tom Steyer, who has spent around $60 million on ads since July.
The former New York City mayor’s decision to run for president as a Democrat was met with intense backlash from other White House hopefuls.
For instance, Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders said that billionaires like Bloomberg “are not going to get very far in this election.” Sanders, whose campaigns are grassroots-funded through small donations, has centered most of his policy proposals on leveling the economic playing field to address income inequality in the country.
The Sanders campaign went a step further, suggesting that the only reason Bloomberg is running is not to have a shot at challenging Trump in 2020, but to stop the senator from winning the nomination. The campaign also pointed to reports alleging Amazon owner Jeff Bezos urged Bloomberg to run.
Echoing Sanders, Julián Castro opined that the electorate is not looking for a “billionaire savior,” and former Vice President Joe Biden said that he is in “better shape” to win the nomination
According to the RealClearPolitics average of polling data, Bloomberg is polling at 4 percent nationwide. Biden is leading the field, with Sanders in second place, and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren in third.
