ABCNews.com(NEW YORK) — Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg will not be running for president in 2020, he said in a post on Tuesday.
“I know what it takes to run a winning campaign, and every day when I read the news, I grow more frustrated by the incompetence in the Oval Office,” Bloomberg wrote in an opinion piece published on the Bloomberg publication website. “And I believe I would defeat Donald Trump in a general election. But I am clear-eyed about the difficulty of winning the Democratic nomination in such a crowded field.”
The growing number of candidates for the 2020 Democratic nomination is one reason Bloomberg cites for not running. Additionally, though, he says he would rather spend the two years leading up to the next inauguration working on projects for actionable change.
The projects he plans to work on in the meantime include a renewed commitment to the Beyond Coal campaign “so that we can retire every single coal-fired power plant over the next 11 years,” he wrote. He will also focus some efforts on gun violence, education and the opioid crisis, as well as health care.
“I hope those who have urged me to run, and to stand up for the values and principles that they hold dear, will understand that my decision was guided by one question: How can I best serve the country?” Bloomberg wrote.
This is a developing story. Please check back for more updates.
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