WASHINGTON — Former Mayor Mike Bloomberg poses the greatest threat to President Trump’s re-election in 2020, according to the president’s former campaign manager.
Corey Lewandowski said the New York billionaire is the “only one” who would be competitive with Trump because he’s a job creator, has widespread name ID, boundless money and isn’t saddled with Washington baggage.
“If I were a Democrat strategist … and somebody said to me ‘who do you want to be the Democrat nominee for president of the United States?’ there’s only one name I would choose … and his name is Michael Bloomberg,” Lewandowski said at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast Wednesday in response to a question from The Post.
“Mike Bloomberg created tens of thousands of jobs over the course of his lifetime,” Lewandowski said. “That is a story the American people like and he’s an outsider. I think it would be a very competitive race.”
Lewandowski, who led Trump’s successful GOP primary victory in 2016, said Bloomberg could sell his business acumen in key swing states like Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.
“He has a history of running the nation’s largest city,” he pointed out.
“He can write a check for $250 million tomorrow and it’s a rounding error in his bank account … but he’s also an American success story because he didn’t inherit. He built it on his own.”
Trump had previously said former Vice President Joe Biden was his strongest potential challenger in 2020.
Marc La Vorgna, a spokesman for Bloomberg, declined to comment.
Bloomberg, 76, has been reportedly mulling running for president as a Democrat. In 2016, he considered making a White House bid as an independent, but ultimately concluded he couldn’t win as a third-party candidate.
He’s already pumped a portion of his fortune into supporting political causes that run counter to Trump’s agenda, particularly gun control and combating climate change. In June, he announced he’d spend $80 million to aid Democrats in the congressional midterm elections.
Bloomberg delivered a biting critique of Trump during the Democratic National Convention in 2016: “Trump says he wants to run the nation like he’s run his business. God help us. I’m a New Yorker, and New Yorkers know a con when we see one,” Bloomberg said.