CBS New York reports:
Former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg is taking a look at the 2016 presidential landscape, and putting the pieces in place for a possible presidential run, sources close to Bloomberg said.
“What he said is if I didn’t get the nomination he might consider it,” Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton said. “Well I’m gonna relieve him of that and get the nomination so he doesn’t have to.”
But Clinton may have it wrong, CBS2’s Marcia Kramer reported. Sources close to Bloomberg told Kramer the former mayor is ramping up a possible presidential run regardless of who gets the Democratic nomination, eyeing an Independent third-party bid.
“I would love to have Michael get in the race — I don’t know if he’s going to do it — but I hope he does,” GOP presidential frontrunner Donald Trump said. “I’d love to compete against Michael.”
[…]
Bloomberg, who weighed a presidential run once before in 2008, is upset with both Trump and Clinton, where Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders could quite possibly win the first two Democratic contests in Iowa and New Hampshire.
“If Donald Trump wins and Mr. Bloomberg gets in you’re gonna have two multi-billionaires running for president,” Sanders said in an interview on Meet the Press. “The American people do not want to see our nation moved toward an oligarchy.”
According to Kramer, sources say Bloomberg has already done polling and has hired a consultant to get him on the ballot in all 50 states. Sources say Bloomberg is willing to spend around $1 billion on the campaign.
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