(JTA) — Michael Bloomberg, the former New York City mayor and billionaire media mogul, officially entered the 2020 presidential race.
His first campaign video, dropped on Sunday, called him a “middle class kid who made good.” The video cited the 9-11 attacks and said he “brought a city back from the ashes,” and also talked about his work on gun control, climate change and affordable housing. Bypassing the other Democratic candidates Bloomberg would have to defeat for the party’s nomination, the video notes that “now he is taking on him,” while flashing a photo of President Donald Trump. The ad promises that Bloomberg will make the wealthier pay higher taxes, offers anyone without health care to get it and anyone who likes theirs to keep it, and vows to create jobs.
The Bloomberg campaign has reserved more than $31 million in television ad time to air the spot, the single largest single week expenditure according to Advertising Analytics, NBC News reported.
Advisor Howard Wolfson told the Associated Press on Saturday that Bloomberg will not accept campaign donations, and instead will pay for his run out of his own personal fortune.
Bloomberg on Thursday filed a statement of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission to declare himself as a Democratic candidate for president.
Earlier this month he registered to run in the Democratic primary in Alabama.
Bloomberg is a centrist who was a Democrat before running for New York mayor as a Republican,later switching to independent. He recently returned to the Democratic Party.
Bloomberg served as mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013.
He founded Bloomberg LP, which would grow to become a business media empire that stood out by providing up-to-the-minute stock information through specialized computer terminals. His net worth is valued at $52.4 billion, according to Forbes.
