Billionaire Michael Bloomberg - Who Claimed That China's Xi Jinping Is Not A Dictator - Now Wants To Run For President

Michael Bloomberg (image by AFGE via Wikimedia Commons)

Billionaire business mogul and ex-mayor of New York City Michael Bloomberg is reportedly preparing to enter the Democratic presidential primary .

Last March Bloomberg had ruled out running for president, but he is now "increasingly concerned that the current field of candidates is not well positioned" to defeat President Trump, as his adviser Howard Wolfson told NPR. Wolfson was a high-profile aide on Hillary Clinton's 2008 primary campaign.

What exactly prompted Bloomberg to change his mind is not clear, but it is possible that he feels increasingly concerned about the rise of left-wing candidates Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. Other wealthy individuals, like Bill Gates, have recently expressed their opposition to wealth tax plans.

Bloomberg's entry into the primary race clearly shows what is wrong with the American political system, dominated by elites who think that the US government should serve their interests, and who have become part of a global kleptocracy that values wealth and power more than human rights and labour rights.

To begin with, Bloomberg does not seem to have any real solutions and simply wants to perpetuate the status quo that has not benefited the majority of Americans. Back in 2016 Bloomberg equated Bernie Sanders with Donald Trump, calling both of them demagogues.

“In this year’s presidential election, we’ve seen more demagoguery from both parties than I can remember in my lifetime,” he said in a speech at the University of Michigan's commencement ceremony. “Our country is facing serious and difficult challenges. But rather than offering realistic solutions, candidates in both parties are blaming our problems on easy targets who breed resentment. For Republicans, it’s Mexicans here illegally and Muslims. And for Democrats, it’s the wealthy and Wall Street. The truth is: We cannot solve the problems we face by blaming anyone.”

Incidentally, Bloomberg was booed during the speech because of remarks about "safe spaces" on campuses. 

Bloomberg is obviously one of those wealthy people that think they know everything and want to lecture others on what is best for them. Interestingly, he seems to believe that racism and welfare are both demagoguery.

The fact that Bloomberg does not seem to care about the US' interests is confirmed by his view on the People's Republic of China (PRC).

Bloomberg has defended the PRC on trade issues and denounced Trump's tariffs, despite Beijing's long history of unfair trade practices.

Recently, Bloomberg told Firing Line's Margaret Hoover that Chinese dictator Xi Jinping is actually "not a dictator".

“The communist party wants to stay in power in China, and they listen to the public,” Bloomberg said, adding: “Xi Jinping is not a dictator. He has to satisfy his constituents ...”

.@MikeBloomberg tells @FiringLineShow that China's leader is addressing pollution to satisfy constituents & secure his political future.

"The Communist Party wants to stay in power in China and they listen to the public," he says. pic.twitter.com/B9SoAXJwrM

— Firing Line with Margaret Hoover (@FiringLineShow) September 27, 2019

Another wealthy man and former presidential candidate, ex-Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, is also a defender of Chinese Communist interests.

It seems to have become quite normal for billionaires to play into the hands of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and to put its interests above those of the United States; not to mention their utter disregard for human rights and labour rights.

Freedom House ranks the PRC as "unfree", giving it a score of 11 out of 100: "China’s authoritarian regime has become increasingly repressive in recent years," a Freedom House report states. "The ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is tightening its control over the state bureaucracy, the media, online speech, religious groups, universities, businesses, and civil society associations, and it has undermined its own already modest rule-of-law reforms. The CCP leader and state president, Xi Jinping, has consolidated personal power to a degree not seen in China for decades ... The government’s persecution of predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities in Xinjiang intensified dramatically, with an estimated one million or more individuals subjected to extralegal detention in 'political reeducation' centers. Reports of torture and other abuse at the camps emerged during the year. Authorities also increased repression of Christians and Muslims elsewhere in China ..."

Michael Bloomberg is clearly unfit to be president. No US citizen who thinks that a dictator in a one-party dictatorship is not a dictator, and who is not willing to defend the interests of the United States when it comes to trade with a neomercantilist totalitarian regime, should be elected to the highest office in the land.