Democratic strategist Don Calloway on Friday shrugged off reports that former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s possible 2020 bid could shake up the Democratic primary.
“The best thing I can say is, ‘yawn,’” Calloway, the CEO of Pine Street Strategies, told Hill.TV.
“I am just remarkably unimpressed; I’m uninterested,” he added. “Michael Bloomberg doesn’t bring anything to this field that you are looking for that is missing.”
Calloway argued that Bloomberg, who is a former Republican and independent, would better served by running as a third-party candidate, even though that move would likely help President Trump’s chances in 2020.
“I’m wondering why he doesn’t run as an independent or third-party candidate of some sort — I just don’t really understand,” he said, adding that such a move would be “true to what he’s bringing to the table.”
Calloway’s comments come after a Bloomberg spokesperson told CNN on Thursday that the billionaire executive is expected to file paperwork for the Democratic presidential primary in Alabama this week.
While the spokesperson maintained that Bloomberg has not yet made a final decision on whether he will jump into the race, he is already being viewed by some as a centrist alternative to candidates such as former Vice President Joe Biden.
If the former New York mayor does enter the race, he would be the second billionaire businessman after Tom Steyer, who has already spent millions in advertising but registers at less than 1 percent nationally, according to the RealClearPolitics average of polls.
—Tess Bonn
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