Michael Bloomberg is one of the richest men in America. Why isn’t he being more like Trump and running as a Republican rather than running as a Democrat?
Michael Bloomberg is worth $62 billion, yet he has joined a party of socialists. This, naturally, has confused just about everyone. Why would one of America’s richest men run as a socialist?
Who is Michael Bloomberg?
Whilst this is not an in-depth biography by any means, it will outline the key points about Bloomberg’s life.
- Born on February 14th 1942
- Attended Johns Hopkins University and Harvard Business School
- Worked at Salomon Brothers for 15 years until he was fired in 1981
- In 1981, he founded Bloomberg LP, a mass media and financial informations company used by many financial institutions, from banks to traders to investment bankers
- In 2001, he ran for Mayor of New York as a Republican and won election.
- In 2005, he was re-elected as Mayor of New York
- In 2009, he extended his term to run as Mayor of New York for a third time, so that he could fix the 2008/09 Great Recession
- In 2018, Bloomberg applied to become a member of the Democrat party once again, after having left the party in 2001 to run for the mayor’s office
- In March 2019, Bloomberg stated that he would not be running as a Democrat (choosing not to run) for the presidency in 2020. But he did call for the Democrat party to “Nominate a Democrat who will be in the strongest position to defeat Donald Trump”
- In November 2019, he chose to run for president as a Democrat- not as an independent as many had speculated.
- As of February 2020, he has a net worth of $62 billion!
(Before 2001, Bloomberg had been a Democrat. Between 2001 and 2007, he had been a Republican. Between 2007 and 2018, he had been an Independent, since 2018 he has been a Democrat once again!)
Why is Bloomberg running as a Democrat if he’s a billionaire?
Most billionaires like Trump. Since his election, they have gotten the sweet end of the deal. Trump’s tax plan, benefited them. Trump’s economic policies have meant that they are becoming wealthier by the day. Trump has also served as the bulwark against socialism that long precedes other billionaires!
Yet, Michael Bloomberg is an exception. He has criticized Trump on many occasions, saying that his way of governing is bringing the country to ruin. He has also criticized Trump’s economic plans such as the Muslim ban and the Mexican border wall.
But why on Earth is he not following in the footsteps of other billionaires before him?
Michael Bloomberg is running as a Democrat because he wants to appear like the man of the people. He wants you to discard the fact that there is a multi-billion dollar company bearing his name. He wants to be your president.
It has actually been quite common for billionaires to back Democrats for a while now. Many billionaires themselves are/were Democrats at one point too!
Michael Bloomberg is one of these such billionaires, having been a longstanding Democrat (minus the time he left the party).
Despite the fact that Bloomberg is one of the richest men on the planet, with a company worth tens of billions of dollars. He still wants a challenge. And once you have become the go-to for Wall Street, the White House it must be!
Some people have also pointed out that since the 1970’s there has been a general discontent among the general public, which has often been directed at millionaires and billionaires.
Some speculate that Michael Bloomberg is running in order to be Trump’s opposite- a New York billionaire who is a “man of the people” vs another New York billionaire who is a “man of the people”.
Essentially, if he wins, he is going to try to invert that stereotype that millionaires and billionaires are to blame for your problems. Because in actual fact, they probably aren’t.
There is also some speculation (mostly on my part) that Michael Bloomberg may be doing this with the intention of actually getting to the White House to be president! (Sounds obvious, but many billionaires ‘run’ for the presidency as a publicity stunt!)
Perhaps Michael Bloomberg is trying to make it so that he does become president over other candidates such as Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders.
Perhaps then, when he does become president, he will be more economically-focused. He will probably reverse some of Trump’s economically ‘stupid’ plans.
He will probably also smooth out the Democrat’s roughest edges. Instead of them being the ‘Party of Hate’ as many conservatives are calling them, they will become a party that is once again on par with the Republicans. But markedly weaker.
But alas, this is only pure speculation. Nothing more, nothing less.
Does Michael Bloomberg stand a chance running as a Democrat?
Many people have criticized Bloomberg for running as a Democrat. They claim that instead of him running as a Democrat, he should’ve ran as a Republican.
These people claim that by Bloomberg running as a Democrat, it will taint the party. After all, they are a party of socialists, rather than a party where the rich will reside.
I personally believe that the presidential election itself will come down to a four way race. Michael Bloomberg, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Donald Trump.
Sadly for Bloomberg however, I do believe that President Trump will win re-election based off the statistic that eleven out of the last thirteen presidents have been re-elected. (The two exceptions being JFK, who died in office and Jimmy Carter, who refused to run again!)
However, I do believe that it will come down to Michael Bloomberg gaining the Democratic nomination. However, he will lose to Trump in the election itself.
(For reference, I believe that Warren and Sanders will run as Independents after they lose the primaries, simply due to the sheer number of people who support both of them!)
I believe that Bloomberg running as a Democrat will either make or break the party. As, by him running as a Democrat, it may set a precedent that future billionaires will follow. But I doubt that will truly happen.
Do you believe that Michael Bloomberg has a chance at the presidency whilst running as a Democrat? Tell me in the comments!