Former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg officially announced his candidacy for the 2020 presidential election on Sunday.
Bloomberg enters a crowded Democratic field four days after the fifth debate among the top-polling candidates, which include former vice president Joe Biden, senators Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris, and South Bend, Indiana, mayor Pete Buttigieg.
“I’m running for president to defeat Donald Trump and rebuild America. We cannot afford four more years of President Trump’s reckless and unethical actions,” Bloomberg said in a statement announcing his candidacy. “If he wins another term in office, we may never recover from the damage.”
Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg L.P., the parent company of Bloomberg News.
The three-term mayor of New York has an uphill challenge. The frontrunners have been campaigning for months with established platforms. Bloomberg supports strict gun control and environmental protection policies but opposes a tax on wealth and Medicare for All policy. And while many have said his stop-and-frisk practice reduced crime in the Big Apple, critics have argued that it unfairly targeted minorities.
His age (77), former Republican political affiliation, and billionaire status have all been raised concerns. Just a few weeks ago, “Real Time” host mocked an expected Bloomberg bid, saying “it’s about time billionaires got a voice and a place at the table in this country.”
However, he does have deep pockets and will fund his own campaign, and plans to inject millions of dollars into political ads beginning this week.
You can watch Bloomberg’s candidacy video below: