Andrew Yang on Bloomberg’s potential entry into 2020 race: ‘There are limits to what money can do’
Billionaire Michael Bloomberg will have a “difficult” time jumping into the 2020 race should the former New York mayor decide to run, Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang said Friday.
“It’s going to be very, very difficult for him to jump in right now and somehow replace the thousands of conversations many of the candidates have had with voters in New Hampshire and Iowa and around the country with ad buys. There are limits to what money can do,” Yang — whose signature campaign proposal is a “universal basic income” of $1,000 a month to every American over the age of 18 — said in a Friday interview with CNN’s John Berman on “New Day.”
“We’re seeing some of the limits of what money can do with other candidates. And so I think he’s going to have his work cut out for him, if he jumps in,” Yang continued.
Bloomberg, who had said in March that he wouldn’t run for president, is now preparing a potential run for a 2020 bid, a spokesman for the billionaire told CNN.
Bloomberg is expected to file the necessary paperwork to get on the Democratic primary ballot in Alabama, which has a filing deadline on Friday — but he has yet to make a final decision on a run, the spokesman said.
Asked what Bloomberg’s candidacy would change about the Democratic race, Yang told CNN with a laugh, “It’s probably going to change the price of advertising in some of the early states and certainly Mike has a very valuable perspective to offer.”
“You can’t fault someone for putting their hat in the ring. And I believe that Mike has a lot to add,” said Yang, who praised Bloomberg as a “great philanthropist” and “an extraordinary leader.”
Yang himself is wealthy, though not as rich as Bloomberg, whose net worth is valued at roughly $52 billion.
Yang told The Washington Post he became a millionaire after working as CEO of a test-prep company, Manhattan Prep, and he later founded Venture for America, a nonprofit that connects recent college graduates with start-ups.
