Michael Bloomberg Announces He Will Not Run for President in 2020

March 6, 2019 Gabe Friedman, JTA

Michael R. Bloomberg: “By reducing the financial barriers to these essential fields, we can free more students to pursue careers they’re passionate about -- and enable them to serve more of the families and communities who need them the most.” (File photo)

(JTA) — Michael Bloomberg will not run for president in 2020.

In an op-ed on the Bloomberg site, the former New York City mayor and Jewish billionaire businessman said he is “clear-eyed about the difficulty of winning the Democratic nomination in such a crowded field.”

“We cannot allow the primary process to drag the party to an extreme that would diminish our chances in the general election,” he added.

Bloomberg also plans to devote more time and money to environmental causes, including a new initiative with the Sierra Club, and continue his push for gun control.

“[A]s I’ve thought about a possible presidential campaign, the choice before me has become clear. Should I devote the next two years to talking about my ideas and record, knowing that I might never win the Democratic nomination? Or should I spend the next two years doubling down on the work that I am already leading and funding, and that I know can produce real and beneficial results for the country, right now?” he wrote. “I’ve come to realize that I’m less interested in talking than doing.”

Bloomberg was still flirting with the idea of running last month when he said he would completely self-fund his campaign. He was set to position himself as a business-friendly moderate in the steadily growing field of progressive Democratic candidates, but he came out strongly against Howard Schultz, another Jewish billionaire who is contemplating running against Trump as an independent.