Michael Bloomberg, who will enter the Democratic Presidential primaries on Super Tuesday, on March 3rd, and has already spent more than three hundred million dollars on his campaign, has risen to third place in an average of national polls of Democratic primary voters. As Bloomberg’s chances of winning the nomination have increased, his record as the mayor of New York City, from 2002 to 2013, has come under more scrutiny—in particular, his administration’s use of stop-and-frisk policing, in which police officers stopped and searched people on the street, many of them young men of color. Activists have also drawn attention to Bloomberg’s remarks about racial profiling: in 2008, he said that the elimination of redlining, a discriminatory practice in which lenders denied loans to low-income residents of predominately black neighborhoods, was responsible for the financial crisis. There have also been multiple allegations of Bloomberg making vulgar remarks about women, including his employees at Bloomberg L.P. Multiple sex-based discrimination lawsuits have been filed against Bloomberg and his company. Some of them have been resolved through settlements and nondisclosure agreements; none has gone to trial.
Despite these concerns, Bloomberg has also been racking up endorsements from members of Congress and mayors across the country. On January 30th, he received the endorsement of Muriel Bowser, the mayor of Washington, D.C., who described Bloomberg as a “problem-solver,” “mentor,” and “friend.” She is now a co-chair of his national campaign. I recently spoke with Bowser, in a brief call arranged by the Bloomberg campaign. As Bowser’s answers became increasingly terse, I brought the interview to an end. Our conversation, which has been edited for length and clarity, is below.
How did you come to know Michael Bloomberg and what made you decide to endorse him?
I met Mike soon after I was nominated to be mayor of D.C., back in 2014. I was meeting with a number of big-city mayors, and Mike gave me some time.
And what did you learn from that meeting?
Well, we talked largely about D.C. public schools and public education, how he set up his Mayor’s Office, things that he thought worked early on in hiring and the like. So it was a conversation I had with a number of mayors, and I thought it was very useful. But I also thought it was very useful to talk about his experience with public education. In New York City, like in Washington, D.C., the mayor hires the chancellor and runs the schools.
Tell me specifically why you decided to endorse him and what it is you think that, as a former mayor, he could bring to the Presidency.
I think we need a new President. And I think Mike Bloomberg is the person who is going to beat Donald Trump. I think that he brings a certain pragmatism to the job because he has been a mayor, and because he works with constituents directly and delivers services to millions of people, and has that executive experience that’s important for the job.
And those are the reasons you decided to endorse him?
Well, there are others that are specific to Washington. Mike is a very bold supporter of D.C. statehood, and has a plan to get us to be the fifty-first state. And his housing plan is very important to me, which is what we talked about when I endorsed him in D.C. Housing affordability is the No. 1 issue for D.C. residents, and Mike has stepped up with a plan to guarantee federal rental assistance for the lowest-earning families in the nation, and that is big for cities.
Bloomberg Philanthropies has made an investment in Washington schools, correct?
Yes, and relative to what we have done in D.C. schools, it has been an important investment. It allows us to test some innovative strategies. But D.C. taxpayers have made the biggest investments in transforming our schools.
Even if you think beating Trump is the most important thing for democracy, do you worry about some cost to democracy if someone wins an election by spending this much money?
Well, we saw somebody win an election by spending a lot of his own money, and so now we need to have somebody who is going to fight back against that. And Mike is making an investment in our democracy by doing that.
So you don’t have any concerns about it?
I am very invested, and I am glad that Mike is invested, too, in replacing Donald Trump as President.
Mayor Bloomberg has faced more heat lately for some of his past stances on issues such as stop-and-frisk and the claim that the end of redlining was responsible for the financial crisis. Do those stances concern you?
I am grateful that Mike has explained those positions, especially as it relates to stop-and-frisk. He did it again to people last night in Houston, recognizing it was a policy that had unintended consequences, and that he wished he had put a stop to it sooner. I think that is the mark of a good leader: recognizing when they have made a mistake, and doing everything they can to correct it. But what’s also important, and I know what African-American voters across our country are interested to hear, is what is your plan for black America. How are you going to create more black homeownership and close the income gap between blacks and whites? What are you going to do to create jobs and help small businesses grow? Those are the things that many voters are talking to me about when they hear Mike’s agenda.
I have spoken to voters with all kinds of backgrounds. I spent a day with survivors of gun violence, where we went to three Virginia cities. There were black people and white people, and everybody was very focussed on how we rid our country of illegal guns, and pass commonsense gun reform. And there was a lot of feedback from folks about Mike’s investment in doing exactly that as mayor and since he has been mayor.
So you are not at all concerned that some of his more controversial stances in the past, such as on stop-and-frisk, and which he defended as recently as 2019, are being changed for political expediency?
Well, I know that he put an end to the practice before he left office. [This is incorrect.]
I believe a judge ruled it illegal, correct? [In 2013, a federal judge ruled that New York City’s use of stop-and-frisk was racially discriminatory and unconstitutional. Bloomberg’s administration appealed the ruling, and Mayor Bill de Blasio then dropped the appeal.]
The practice was ended before Mike left office. I think he regrets not talking about it more, talking about the deleterious effects before he left office, and also not talking about all the investments he was making in young men of color in the programs he started in N.Y.C. So we are all very focussed on what the agenda for black America is going to be—that is, the real solution to making things right with those young men who were targeted in New York or other cities in America.
Just to be clear, stop-and-frisk went on after he left office. The other thing that has come up are comments that Bloomberg has made about women in the past. Have you looked into those at all?
I am aware of some things that have been printed, yes.
Is that something you have talked to him about?
I have talked to Mike about a lot of issues, but what is your question about it?
Well, it seems like something that people who support him would be concerned about. And I was curious if you had spoken to him about it, or had some thoughts about it.
I am certainly aware of a lot of allegations, including some we have talked about, and also aware that they don’t directly impact my thoughts that Mike is going to be a good President.
They don’t? O.K., so that’s your answer?
[No answer.]
O.K., I appreciate you taking the time.
Thank you.
