2020 US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS: Trump winces as Bloomberg lays down the guantlet.

2020 US Presidential Elections: Trump winces as Bloomberg lays down the guantlet.

So Michael Bloomberg has officially announced he is standing to be the Democratic Party
presidential nominee. In a statement, the 77-year-old said he was standing "to defeat Donald Trump and rebuild America". "The stakes could not be higher. We must win this election," Mr Bloomberg wrote.

He joins 17 other candidates vying for the Democratic nomination to take on Mr Trump in 2020. As things stand, former Vice-President Joe Biden, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders are the party's front-runners. 

But lets concentrate on the two main contenders - Trump and Bloomberg! Both Behemoths on the World stage. 

Michael Rubens Bloomberg, born February 14, 1942 is an American politician, businessman, and author. As of November 2019, his net worth was estimated at $58
billion, making him the 9th richest person in the United States and the 14th richest person in the world. He has joined The Giving Pledge, whereby billionaires pledge to give away at least half of their wealth. To date, Bloomberg has given away $8.2 billion, including his $1.8 billion gift in 2018
to Johns Hopkins University for student aid—the largest private donation ever made to a higher education institution.

Meanwhile Donald Trump Donald John Trump was born June 14, 1946, he is the 45th and current
president of the United States. Before entering politics, he was a businessman and television
personality.

Trump was born and raised in the New York City borough of Queens, and received a B.S. degree
in economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He took charge of his family's real-estate business in 1971, renamed it The Trump Organization, and expanded its operations from Queens and Brooklyn into Manhattan. The company built or renovated skyscrapers, hotels, casinos, and golf courses. Trump later started various side ventures, mostly by licensing his name. He owned the Miss Universe and Miss USA beauty pageants from 1996 to 2015, and produced and hosted The Apprentice, a reality television show, from 2003 to 2015. Forbes estimates his net worth to be $3.1 billion.

They are both billionaires, they both have a tower block in New York and they are both in their seventies - but that is where the similarities end for incumbent US President Donald Trump (73) and 2020 Presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg (77).

Trump defeated 16 other candidates in the primaries and won the 2016 presidential race as a Republican in an election American intelligence agencies unanimously concluded was marked
by Russian interference. Trump has disputed these claims, promoting the conspiracy theory that Russia was framed by Ukraine's government with the help of the company CrowdStrike. His political positions have been described as populist, protectionist, and nationalist. He was elected in a surprise victory over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, although he lost the popular vote.

He became the oldest first-term U.S. president,[d] and the first one without prior military or government service. His election and policies have sparked numerous protests. Trump has made many false or misleading statements during his campaign and presidency. The statements have been documented by fact-checkers, and the media have widely described the phenomenon as unprecedented in American politics. Many of his comments and actions have also been characterized as racially charged or racist.

Bloomberg served as the 108th mayor of New York City, holding office for three consecutive terms, beginning his first in 2001. A lifelong Democrat before seeking elective office, Bloomberg switched his party registration in 2001 to run for mayor as a Republican. He defeated opponent Mark J. Green in a close election held just weeks after the September 11 terrorist attacks. He won a second term in 2005, and left the Republican Party two years later. Bloomberg campaigned to change the city's
term limits law, and was elected to his third term in 2009 as an independent on the Republican ballot line.

Bloomberg was frequently mentioned as a possible centrist candidate for the presidential elections in 2008, and 2012, as well as for governor of New York in 2010. He declined to seek either office, opting to continue serving as the mayor of New York City. His final term as mayor ended on December 31, 2013.

In a statement Bloomberg said: "Now, we've heard a lot of talk in this campaign about needing a leader who understands business. I couldn't agree more. I've built a business and I didn't start it with a million-dollar check from my father. Because of my success in the private sector, I had the chance to run America's largest city for 12 years, governing in the wake of its greatest tragedy."


After a brief stint as a full-time philanthropist, Bloomberg re-assumed the position of CEO at Bloomberg L.P. by the end of 2014. There was widespread speculation that he would run as a third-party candidate in the 2016 presidential election, though he chose not to run, later endorsing Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton for president. In October 2018, Bloomberg changed his political party affiliation back to the Democrats. He announced on November 24, 2019, that he was seeking that party's nomination in the 2020 presidential election.


Bloomberg, the former three-term mayor of Trump's native New York City, is both very rich and very famous. The media empire Bloomberg built has built has pushed his net worth to more $51 billion, making him the 8th richest person in America, according to Forbes. (Trump is 275th on that list, with an estimated net worth of $3.1 billion.) Bloomberg's philanthropy and spending on political causes close to his heart (gun control, climate crisis, soda, himself) has made him a national figure of some renown.

All of which makes him a lot like Trump - except Richer!

Editors Note -  Donald Trump will obsess over Michael Bloomberg - Donald Trump has a very simple view on the world: The richer and more famous you are, the better. Which is why the President is virtually certain to fixate on the likely presidential candidacy of the former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Yours Aye IF

By: Iain Fraser - Consultant Editor
Málaga Press & Technology Centre