And finally, there it is: Rumors circulating that Bloomberg wants Hillary Clinton for running mate

Rachel Sharp
The Daily Mail
Sat, 15 Feb 2020 17:35 UTC

© Associated Press ; Getty Images

Mike Bloomberg (left) is considering making Hillary Clinton (right) his running mate, a source close to his campaign has told Drudge Report

Mike Bloomberg is considering making Hillary Clinton his running mate, a source close to his campaign has told Drudge Report.

Polling found the Bloomberg-Clinton combination would be a formidable force to take on Trump in the race for the White House, the source said.

Former New York City Mayor and Democratic candidate Bloomberg is said to be considering even changing his official residence from New York to Colorado or Florida - where he also has homes - because the electoral college makes it difficult for US president and vice-president to reside in the same state.

Under the Twelfth Amendment to the US Constitution, which provides the procedure for electing the president and vice-president, it states that the two people could not both inhabit the same state as the elector.

Bloomberg's campaign would not confirm or deny the reports when DailyMail.com reached out for comments.

'We are focused on the primary and the debate, not VP speculation,' Communications Director Jason Schechter said in a statement. Mike Bloomberg (left) is considering making Hillary Clinton (right) his running mate, a source close to his campaign has told Drudge Report

Clinton's primary home is in Chappaqua, New York.

This comes as two new Democratic primary polls show Bloomberg in the lead in Florida, while Sen. Bernie Sanders tops the field in Texas.

Both Bloomberg and Sanders have teeny tiny leads over former Vice President Joe Biden, who took a beating in both Iowa and New Hampshire.

The Florida poll shows Bloomberg with just a one-point lead over Biden, with the ex-mayor receiving 27 per cent support from Florida Democrats compared to Biden's 26 per cent support.

Bloomberg's edge comes from having about a 10-point lead over Biden among white survey respondents. The former mayor gets the support of 28 per cent of white Floridians, versus the 18.5 per cent who selected Biden as their first choice for Democratic nominee.

© WireImage

Former United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Michael Bloomberg pictured together in New York in 2017

Former first lady Clinton previously said she faced calls to run for president in 2020 after she lost out to Trump in the 2016 election, but she has repeatedly said she won't join the race.

However, she stopped short of denying she was considering running for vice-president alongside one of the Democratic candidates earlier this month.

'I never say never because I do believe in serving my country, but it's not going to happen,' she told Ellen DeGeneres.

In January, Donald Trump made the strange claim that Clinton had promised Bloomberg the job of secretary of state should she be elected president in 2016, to keep him from running four years ago.

'He had a deal with Hillary Clinton that he was going to become secretary of State. It was very simple. People knew that,' Trump said during an interview on CNBC filmed on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

The president then suggested Bloomberg would have been double-crossed.

'Wasn't going to happen. It was giong to go to Terry McAuliffe,' Trump said, name-dropping the former governor of Virginia who's been a close Clinton friend.

'I mean, so they were playing with Michael,' Trump alleged. 'And - it's too bad, but he's spending a fortune.'

Bloomberg had endorsed Clinton over Trump in 2016, saying at the Democratic National Convention in July 2016 that though 'there are times when I disagree with Hillary,' the country must unite to 'defeat a dangerous demagogue'.

© WireImage

Bloomberg and Clinton at the 2016 NYC Pride Parade

'Let's elect a sane, competent person with international experience,' Bloomberg said at the time.

It's been a busy week for Bloomberg as he was forced to apologize after a recording was leaked online of him talking bluntly about his stop-and-frisk policies.

'Ninety-five percent of your murders - murderers and murder victims - fit one M.O. You can just take the description, Xerox it and pass it out to all the cops,' Bloomberg is heard saying in the recording.

'They are male minorities, 16 to 25. That's true in New York. That's true in virtually every city.'

'And that's where the real crime is. You've got to get the guns out of the hands of the people that are getting killed.'

President Trump tweeted 'WOW, BLOOMBERG IS A TOTAL RACIST!', as he tries to woo black voters to the Republican side.

On Thursday, Bloomberg apologized for endorsing the stop-and-frisk policy.

'There is one aspect of approach that I deeply regret, the abuse of police practice called stop and frisk,' Bloomberg said.

'I defended it, looking back, for too long because I didn't understand then the unintended pain it was causing to young black and brown families and their kids.'

'I should have acted sooner and faster to stop it,' he continued. 'I didn't, and for that, I apologize.'

Comment: Bloomberg has blatantly bought his way onto the Democratic platform of candidates Will his candidacy be the means by which Killary will try to claw her way back into the White House? Apparently the matchup polls well within his organization.

Killary is playing coy for the moment:

Clinton, 72, won the nomination in 2016, but lost the presidential election to President Donald Trump.

She said last week during an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show how she wouldn't agree to be on the 2020 ticket if she were asked.

"Well, that's not going to happen," Clinton said, per the New York Post. "But no, probably no."

She added: "I never say never because I believe in serving my country, but it's never going to happen."

Answers to Matt Drudge's tweet on the matter were cynical about the idea: