Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has admitted he wouldn’t have beaten President Trump had he entered the 2016 presidential race as an independent candidate.
“Running and knowing you can’t win is not a smart thing to do,” Bloomberg told the Hollywood Reporter in an interview published Monday. “If I had run and we got Donald Trump, my obit would be I was the guy that gave you Donald Trump. They wouldn’t have cared about anything else I had done in my life.”
Political and media pundits speculated Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg LP and Bloomberg Philanthropies, would launch a presidential bid in 2016 given the divisiveness of both Trump as the Republican nominee and Hillary Clinton as the Democratic Party’s pick.
But, Bloomberg announced in March 2016 he wouldn’t contest the election, instead endorsing Clinton and speaking on her behalf at the Democratic National Convention that July.
Bloomberg’s fiery speech at the event drew ire from then-candidate Trump, who in a tweet wrote,”‘Little’ Michael Bloomberg, who never had the guts to run for president, knows nothing about me.”
“His last term as mayor was a disaster!” Trump added.
Bloomberg said he and Trump joked about the exchange during a phone call shortly after Trump won office.
“We laughed and let bygones be bygones,” Bloomberg said. “He asked my advice on how to attract people, and I gave it to him. I’m not sure he did any of it. He probably didn’t, but that’s OK.”
“He gave me his private cell phone number and said if you ever need anything, call me,” Bloomberg continued. “I have not talked to him since then.”
