MSNBC anchor Stephanie Ruhle on Wednesday expressed interest in becoming Michael Bloomberg’s press secretary if he wins the presidency.
“I do think Mike [Bloomberg] is going to run,” Ruhle, a host on Bloomberg Television for five years before joining MSNBC, told Hugh Hewitt on his radio show.
When asked if she would be his press secretary if the billionaire won the Democratic nod and Trump, Ruhle said she “would definitely be open to it.”
The MSNBC host also expressed concern over whether Bloomberg would be a successful candidate outside of New York, including fights against super-sized sodas and advocacy of gun control. Ruhle also questioned if those types of views would play well outside of liberal-leaning areas.
[Related: Michael Bloomberg on 2020: I’ll be ‘demanding that anybody that’s running has a plan’]
Ruhle said she got close to Bloomberg while she was working for Bloomberg Television, and that he previously dedicated considerable time and money researching the viability of running for president as an independent.
“He made it very clear a week ago that it would be a mistake for Howard Schultz to [run as an independent]. Mike obviously considered a run the last time around, and he realized running as an independent would only ensure more votes for Donald Trump,” Ruhle said, in respect to the former Starbucks CEO currently eyeing a 2020 independent presidential bid.
Bloomberg was a longtime registered Democrat before flipping to Republican ahead of his successful 2001 bid for the New York City mayoralty. Bloomberg won his third mayoral term as an independent, and now is a registered Democrat, again.
