Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush on Sunday praised former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg as he considers an independent presidential run, saying the billionaire was "a great mayor." The former Florida governor said that he doubts that Bloomberg will run for president unless Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders are the two main party candidates.
"Look, he's a good man," said Bush on ABC's This Week, according to ABC News. "He was a great mayor. He is much more liberal than I am. But he's a good person and I don't think he'll get in the race if -- unless it's Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders probably."
"But that's way off into the future. Right now we're focused on eight days of getting our caucus goers -- voters out and then move into New Hampshire, where we have a strong following and we're making really good progress," he added, according to The Hill.
Sanders, who also appeared on the show, but in a different segment, said that having Bloomberg and Trump as two of the candidates will only reaffirm what his entire platform is about -- that politics has become the playground for billionaires.
"Well, you know, I think it would be very interesting if Donald Trump became the Republican candidate who is a multi-billionaire, and Michael Bloomberg became an independent candidate who is a multi-billionaire," Sanders said. "And it will tell people what I have been saying for a long time is that this country is moving away from democracy to oligarchy that billionaires are the people who are controlling our political life."
Earlier this week, as rumors swirled about Bloomberg entering the race, Trump said he welcomed the addition. "I would love to see Michael run -- I would love the competition," Trump told The New York Times.
