Michael Bloomberg is trading a 2020 campaign for an anti-coal campaign.
The billionaire businessman and former New York City mayor won't run for president in 2020, he wrote Tuesday in a Bloomberg op-ed. Instead, he says he'll focus on "doubling down on the work that I am already leading and funding," including his efforts to curb climate change and gun violence.
Bloomberg gave more than $100 million to Democrats in the 2016 midterms, and seemed to be considering a presidential run himself as he publicly re-registered with the Democratic party in October. In his Tuesday statement, Bloomberg said he "believe[s]" he "would defeat Donald Trump in a general election," and that "many people have urged me to run." But Bloomberg is "clear-eyed about the difficulty of winning the Democratic nomination in such a crowded field," he added, and decided to bow out.
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Instead of spending the next two years "talking," Bloomberg said he will work with the Sierra Club to replace American coal production with "cleaner and cheaper energy." He also mentioned his continued devotion to fighting gun violence, and improving public schools and access to college, among other issues. Read Bloomberg's full statement here.
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