Sources: Bloomberg Willing To Spend $1B On Possible Presidential Bid
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg is taking a look at the 2016 presidential landscape, and putting the pieces in place for a possible presidential run, sources close to Bloomberg said.
"What he said is if I didn't get the nomination he might consider it," Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton said. "Well I'm gonna relieve him of that and get the nomination so he doesn't have to."
But Clinton may have it wrong, CBS2's Marcia Kramer reported. Sources close to Bloomberg told Kramer the former mayor is ramping up a possible presidential run regardless of who gets the Democratic nomination, eyeing an Independent third-party bid.
"I would love to have Michael get in the race -- I don't know if he's going to do it -- but I hope he does," GOP presidential frontrunner Donald Trump said. "I'd love to compete against Michael."
Mayor Bill de Blasio doesn't think Bloomberg is the right man for the White House, 1010 WINS' Juliet Papa reported, saying that the people of this country want to be in a better place.
"The people of this country are not going to turn to a billionaire to solve problems that were created largely by billionaires," de Blasio said.
De Blasio also slammed Trump, saying he has "affronted the vast majority of the American people," including women, Mexican-Americans and Muslims.
"Donald Trump proves almost on a daily basis he can't be president of the United States, because he says not only outlandish things but entirely inappropriate things," De Blasio told reporters, including WCBS 880's Rich Lamb.
Bloomberg, who weighed a presidential run once before in 2008, is upset with both Trump and Clinton, where Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders could quite possibly win the first two Democratic contests in Iowa and New Hampshire.
"If Donald Trump wins and Mr. Bloomberg gets in you're gonna have two multi-billionaires running for president," Sanders said in an interview on Meet the Press. "The American people do not want to see our nation moved toward an oligarchy."
According to Kramer, sources say Bloomberg has already done polling and has hired a consultant to get him on the ballot in all 50 states. Sources say Bloomberg is willing to spend around $1 billion on the campaign.
According to a new poll by Morning Consult, the number could go two different ways, depending on the Democratic winner.
If Bernie Sanders secures the nomination, he would upset Trump in the polls by one point, polling at 35 percent to Trumps 34 percent. Bloomberg would place third with 12 percent of the vote.
If Clinton secures the nomination, she would poll at 36 percent compared to Trump's 37 percent, with Bloomberg trailing at 13 percent of the vote.
The poll was done before Bloomberg was able to do any campaigning, Kramer notes.
Some candidates were not happy about the Bloomberg development.
"We have differing views and I want to be the conservative candidate to lead the Conservative party into the general election," Jeb Bush said.
"When you're not a candidate you don't deserve to be evaluated as whether you're going to be a good president or not," Chris Christie said.
"As of now he's just a private citizen who owns a big company," Marco Rubio said.
Sources close to Bloomberg say he is far more optimistic about his chances than he was the last time he thought about running in 2008, Kramer reported. He also thinks that if the race was thrown into the House of Representatives, he might be able to get enough Republican support to prevail.
Sources close to Bloomberg say he will make an official decision on the presidential bid by March.
