Former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg said he is considering running for US president, the Financial Times reported on Monday.
The 73-year-old founder of the eponymous financial information group was critical of the quality of debate in the presidential contest and said he was “looking at all the options” when asked whether he was considering a run, the newspaper said.
“I find the level of discourse and discussion distressingly banal and an outrage and an insult to the voters,” Bloomberg said in an interview with the paper, adding that the US public deserved “a lot better.”
Bloomberg has told aides to draw up plans for an independent campaign for the US presidency, a source familiar with the situation told Reuters on Jan. 23, confirming a report in the New York Times.
He would be willing to spend at least US$1 billion of his own money on a campaign for the election in November, according to the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the former mayor’s thinking.
Bloomberg has given himself an early March deadline for entering the race, the source said, after commissioning a poll in December to see how he would fare against former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, the Democratic and Republican front-runners.
No third-party candidate has ever won a US presidential election. However, Bloomberg, who has close Wall Street ties and liberal social views, sees an opening for his candidacy if Republicans nominate Trump or US Senator Ted Cruz, and the Democrats nominate US Senator Bernie Sanders, the source said.
A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll showed a third-party presidential run by Bloomberg would be a long shot, but could help Trump if he lands the Republican nomination.
In a matchup between Trump and Clinton, adding Bloomberg’s name to the ballot would trim Clinton’s lead over Trump to 6 percentage points from 10, according to the poll conducted from Jan. 23 to Jan. 27.
In a matchup pitting Trump versus Sanders, adding Bloomberg would erode Sanders’ lead over Trump to 7 points from 12, it showed.
In all matchups, Bloomberg himself would land just 10 percent or less of the vote in November.
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