Actor Michael Douglas gave an over the top endorsement of former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (D) for president on Tuesday, calling him “one of the greatest candidates in the history of our elections.”
“I feel so blessed that in this particularly difficult time that we have one of the greatest candidates in the history of our elections,” the Ant-Man actor told PEOPLE, noting that he “hasn’t been this excited” about a candidate since John F. Kennedy.
“I feel that all those years as mayor have really helped him with budgets,” Douglas told the magazine. “With all respect to Buttigieg, we’re talking about a city of 12 million people.”
The billionaire has failed to see significant support from Democrats, many of whom take issue with tens of millions he has dropped on political ads.
“I’m disgusted by the idea that Michael Bloomberg or any other billionaire thinks they can circumvent the political process and spend tens of millions of dollars to buy our elections,” Sanders said in a statement in November following the news of Bloomberg’s massive ad buy.
“If you can’t build grassroots support for your candidacy, you have no business running for president,” he continued. “The American people are sick and tired of the power of billionaires, and I suspect they won’t react well to someone trying to buy an election.”
Douglas, however, considers the critiques of Bloomberg’s spending “a little unfair.”
“The fact that he doesn’t need people to pay for his campaign means that he doesn’t owe anybody,” the Academy Award-winning actor told PEOPLE. “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.”
While the Disclosure actor said he was “proud” of the other candidates in the race, he is not sure if the extreme left-wing visions that some of the candidates embrace will win the nation over.
“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 said. “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.”
“I think he’s the one that’s going to bring everybody together,” Douglas said of Bloomberg. “Those of the people in the middle, those Republicans who are uncomfortable with how things are going.”
“I think all can feel comfortable under Mike’s umbrella,” he added.
Tuesday’s RealClearPolitics average shows Bloomberg, who is embracing a “Super Tuesday” strategy rather than focusing on the first four states, in fifth place with seven percent support.