2020 Democrat Michael Bloomberg altered his story about why he decided to become a Republican when he first ran for mayor of New York City in 2001.
During a Fox News town hall on Monday night, host Bret Baier asked about a perception from Democratic voters and opponents, such as former Vice President Joe Biden, who said Bloomberg is not really a Democrat, given his switch to the Republican Party in 2001 prior to his mayoral campaign.
“I came to New York City. There are no Republicans, and I was a Democrat for a long time,” Bloomberg said. “When I wanted to run for mayor, the Democrats wouldn’t let me on their ballot, but the Republicans said, ‘We don’t have a candidate. Would you like to run?’ And I said, ‘Sure, why not?’ And I won twice as a Republican and once as an independent.”
Over the years, Bloomberg has routinely told the public that New York state Republican Party officials first approached him to run for mayor of New York, but Republican sources close to former Republican Gov. George Pataki told the Washington Examiner it was the other way around.
According to these GOP sources, Bloomberg initially approached New York Republican Party officials and pitched himself as their candidate after he switched party registration from Democrat to Republican. By April 3, 2002, Bloomberg had donated $250,000 to the Republican National Committee’s Republican National State Elections Committee and maxed out a $2,000 donation to the New York Republican County Committee on Jan. 27, 2000.
Additionally, Bloomberg gave a different reason as to why he switched parties back in 2001 when he first ran for mayor. During his mayoral debate against Democratic city public advocate Mark Green, he said the Democratic primary was already too crowded for him to jump in at the time.
“Well, I was a Democrat up until about a year ago. It was obvious that I could not run for mayor in the Democratic Party when there were four candidates who’d spent their lifetime working in the Democratic Party. The Republican Party approached me, and, if I think that I can make a difference, I would just never forgive myself if I didn’t try,” Bloomberg told the debate moderators.
He added, “I don’t have any problems with running. The labels don’t matter. The Republican Party is something that, in this part of the country, I agree with a lot of their philosophies, not with everybody or everything, but the fact that I got a chance to make a difference is what really matters.”
Bloomberg ran for mayor of New York City after the 9/11 attacks and sought out former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s endorsement following his party switch.
Prior to the endorsement, Bloomberg was 16 points behind Green in the polls. However, after Giuliani endorsed him, his popularity sprang up, and the New York Republican billionaire defeated the Democrat, 50% to 47%.
