Michael Douglaswants to see former New York City MayorMike Bloombergin the White House.
On Tuesday morning the Academy Award-winning actor officially endorsed Bloomberg in the2020 election, telling PEOPLE that he “hasn’t been this excited” about a presidential candidate sinceJohn F. Kennedy.
“I feel so blessed that in this particularly difficult time that we have one of the greatest candidates in the history of our elections,” says Douglas, 75.
In his view, Bloomberg offers “a rare opportunity to coalesce and bring us back together, get rid of all this horrid, negative scare tactics that are going on, and the fact that he’s succeeded to the degree that he has is phenomenal.”
Bloomberg, 77, is the billionaire head of his eponymous media and financial company. He previously spent three terms as the mayor of N.Y.C., from 2002 to 2013.
Even so, his candidacy faces significant headwinds: He announced his bid for the presidency in late November, almost a year after other candidates such as Sens.Bernie SandersandElizabeth Warren. And, in an unusual move, he has avoided the earliest-voting primary states (where he polls weakly) in an effort to attract voters in larger states on “Super Tuesday” and beyond.
Some have pointed to Bloomberg’s somewhat unorthodox political background as attractive to an abstract moderate coalition, given his record (and him havingswitched parties multiple timesover the years).
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Still, that record has come under new scrutiny. In an unusual move for Bloomberg, he distanced himself from some of his decisions and behavior. He has been criticized for his “stop and frisk” policing policy during his tenure as mayor, given that it largely targeted people of color. Heapologizedlast year.
Both Bloomberg and incumbent PresidentDonald Trumpspent areported $10 millioneach for 60-second ads during the Super Bowl next month.
Douglas says criticism or concern about Bloomberg’s spending — what others in the race have contended is essentially an effort to buy himself voters in lieu of persuading them through campaigning — is “a little unfair.”
“The fact that he doesn’t need people to pay for his campaign means that he doesn’t owe anybody,” Douglas says. “Do I hope eventually that money in political campaigns will become a thing of the past? Certainly. I think Mike would be one of the first ones to say that.”
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Both Douglas and Sheindlin credit Bloomberg for his entrepreneurial expertise and told PEOPLE that his experience running the company would translate to the Oval Office.
Like Sheindlin, Douglas also says Bloomberg’s experience as mayor of the country’s largest city is a major reason for his endorsement.
“I feel that all those years as mayor have really helped him with budgets,” Douglas says. “With all respect to [Pete] Buttigieg, we’re talking about a city of 12 million people.”
Douglas says he’s “very proud” of the rest of the Democratic candidates, but he’s worried a candidate that’s too far to the left would only divide the country further.
“I don’t know if we are ready for a dramatic change in policies or if we’re working more just to fix some of the things that are wrong,” Douglas says. “A little tweaking might be in order and make audiences feel a little more secure before we have anything of a dramatic change taking place.”
Bloomberg announced that he re-registered as a Democrat in October 2018.
“I’m running for president to defeat Donald Trump and rebuild America,” he said when he announced his run last fall. “We cannot afford four more years of President Trump’s reckless and unethical actions.”
While a common criticism against Bloomberg is that he used to be a Republican, Douglas instead says he sees that as a beneficial quality.
“I think he’s the one that’s going to bring everybody together: those of the people in the middle, those Republicans who are uncomfortable with how things are going,” Douglas says. “I think all can feel comfortable under Mike’s umbrella.”
source: people.com
