Michael Bloomberg Becomes a Democrat Just in Time for a Horrendous 2020 Run

Former New York City mayor and obscenely rich asshole Michael Bloomberg, who was first a Republican and later an independent during his time in office, has now registered as a Democrat because he’s joining the resistance and definitely not because he’s angling to make a run for president.

In an Instagram post, Bloomberg wrote that he was re-registering as a Democrat—he says he’s been one “for most of my life,” except for that small period where he actually wielded significant political power—because “we need Democrats to provide the checks and balance our nation so badly needs.”

This is really just a formality, as Bloomberg has already committed to spend nine figures to elect Democrats to Congress this year. In June, Bloomberg pledged to spend $80 million on the House, and last week, he committed $20 million to the Chuck Schumer-aligned Senate Majority PAC.

Yet a little over a week after that big media rollout, Bloomberg held a fundraiser at his home for Republican Rep. Peter King, one of Donald Trump’s biggest supporters in the House and also a giant fucking racist.

It’s not all that surprising, because in a long, shitshow interview that Bloomberg gave the New York Times last month, he sure as hell sounded a lot more like King than King’s progressive opponent Liuba Grechen Shirley or most people in the Democratic Party. He defended stop and frisk, attacked Elizabeth Warren’s proposal to break up the big banks, and—my personal favorite—launched into a defense of Charlie Rose, who has been accused of sexual harassment by dozens of women. From the Times piece (emphasis mine):

Mr. Bloomberg said the media industry was guilty of not “standing up” against sexual misconduct sooner, but declined to say whether he believed the allegations against Mr. Rose. “Let the court system decide,” he said, while acknowledging that the claims involving Mr. Rose might never be adjudicated in a legal proceeding.

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“You know, is it true?” Mr. Bloomberg said of the allegations. “You look at people that say it is, but we have a system where you have — presumption of innocence is the basis of it.”