Michael Bloomberg on the all-white Democratic debate: 'Don't complain to me that you're not in the race'

Mike Bloomberg.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Michael Bloomberg doesn't see anything wrong with being another white man in the increasingly less diverse 2020 field.

As Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) recently pointed out after Bloomberg's entry to and Sen. Kamala Harris' (D-Calif.) departure from the 2020 presidential race, there are now "more billionaires than black people" running for president. But when confronted with that fact in a CBS This Morning interview, Bloomberg, one of those aforementioned billionaires, didn't seem to think it was a problem.

In the interview aired Friday, Gayle King asked Bloomberg if it was a "problem" that the December Democratic primary debate might not have any people of color on the stage. "It would be better the more diverse any group is, but the public is out there picking and choosing," Bloomberg responded. He then pointed out that there was a more diverse field earlier in the race.

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Then, King asked Bloomberg to response to suggestions that he's "another old, white gentleman" in the race, and that it's "time for change." "Maybe," Bloomberg acknowledged, and then added "If you wanted to enter and run for president of the United States, you could have done that. But don't complain to me that you're not in the race."

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Bloomberg also explained his recent decision to apologize for the "stop and frisk" policy he pursued as New York City mayor by asserting he only said he was sorry for it now because "nobody asked me about it until I started running for president."

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Kathryn Krawczyk

Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.