Trump Preemptively Welcomes Bloomberg to the Race by Giving Him a Nickname: 'Little Michael'
President Donald Trump commented Friday on a prospective presidential run by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, bestowing a new nickname on a fellow billionaire.
Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump referred to Bloomberg as “little Michael,” The Hill reported.
The president also predicted that the Democratic businessman would fare poorly in a presidential campaign.
“He’s not going to do well, but I think he’s going to hurt [former Vice President Joe] Biden, actually,” Trump said.
He also told reporters that Bloomberg “doesn’t have the magic to do well” in the race.
“Little Michael will fail. He’ll spend a lot of money. He’s got some really big issues, he’s got some personal problems and he’s got a lot of other problems,” he said.
Trump went on to say that even if Bloomberg were to win the Democratic primary, he would be “happy” to run against the former NYC mayor.
“He will not do very well and if he did, I would be happy,” Trump said. “There’s nobody I’d rather run against than little Michael.”
Earlier in his remarks, Trump denigrated Bloomberg as a “nothing” while claiming he knew him well.
President Trump on Michael Bloomberg: “Little Michael will fail.” https://t.co/jHevSzE7rs pic.twitter.com/gX7XqFsy2O
— The Hill (@thehill) November 8, 2019
“I’ve known Michael Bloomberg for a long time. If you go back early on, he said a lot of great things about Trump,” he said.
“But I know Michael. He became just a nothing, he was really a nothing.”
On Thursday, The New York Times reported that Bloomberg was “actively preparing” to enter the presidential race.
While the former mayor had reportedly not officially decided whether to run, he did send staffers to Alabama to garner enough signatures to put him on the ballot should he decide to launch a campaign.
According to The Times, Bloomberg and his advisers called Democrats such as former Nevada Sen. Harry Reid to signal that he may be joining the race.
While the 77-year-old has considered running for president before, he has never appeared on a state ballot.
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