Biden on Bloomberg: ‘He’s not a Democrat’

Former Vice President Joe Biden said Michael Bloomberg is not a Democrat after the former New York mayor suggested Biden did not have the kind of experience necessary to be president of the United States.

Bloomberg said in an interview with CNN’s Don Lemon on the eve of Super Tuesday that Biden is a “legislator,” and being president “requires a manager and executive.”

Biden responded to the billionaire businessman’s comments and told CNN’s Anderson Cooper that being president “requires somebody who has gotten things done, requires someone who understands how to bring people together. It requires a Democrat, by the way, to be a Democratic president, and it requires someone who has a track record.”

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Cooper followed up and asked if Biden believed that Bloomberg, who is running for president as a Democrat, is a Democrat. Bloomberg was elected mayor of New York as a Republican and as an independent, and he reregistered as a Democrat in October 2018.

“He’s not a Democrat,” Biden said with a laugh. “Well, he hasn’t been a Democrat.”

The former vice president said he thinks the American public is looking for “someone who can produce things, who’s ready on day one, and is a Democrat.”

“I am a (President Barack) Obama-Biden Democrat. I’ve been a Democrat all my life, I never had any qualms or concerns about what my views were, and I’ve stuck to it,” Biden said.

The comments come the night before Super Tuesday, when voters in 14 states and a US territory will decide the allocation of about one-third of all pledged delegates. Biden has momentum heading into the contests after a blowout win in South Carolina on Saturday. The former vice president also received the endorsements of former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, both of whom dropped out of the primary race after the Palmetto State.

Bloomberg was not on the ballot in South Carolina, and he also skipped the other early nominating states. His campaign, which is self-funded and got a late official start in November, has instead focused the billionaire’s resources on the Super Tuesday states.

Bloomberg defended being a member of the Republican Party in his interview with Lemon and touted his contributions to Democratic causes and candidates.

He said he was a member of the Democratic Party but that when he ran for mayor of New York, he changed his registration to the Republican Party, “because it was the only way I could get on the ballot.”

“I think my actions are as Democratic as you can possibly get,” Bloomberg said.

“You go right down the list of the things that I have done for the Democratic Party and the values that I have, which are consistent with what Democrats do, I think that makes me more of a Democrat than any of the others who talk about doing things and don’t do anything,” Bloomberg said.

Bloomberg told Lemon he was the candidate who could beat President Donald Trump, and that he was “ready for the job, and I don’t think any of the others are.”

Biden “is a legislator, and the job (of being president) requires a manager and executive, and I feel very strongly about that,” Bloomberg said.

Lemon responded, “He was the vice president. Obama thought he was ready. You don’t think he’s ready?”

“Obama thought he was ready for what?” Bloomberg said.

“He was his vice president, he was ready to be president. That’s the next job,” Lemon said.

“I don’t know, you’d have to talk to President Obama about that,” Bloomberg said. “All I know is we keep putting legislators in the job that requires a manager.”