--- description: The former New York City mayor called "the level of discourse and discussion distressingly banal" title: Bloomberg Confirms He's Looking Into White House Run image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc383ce5c8a683c71/69887cac196cf4ebaf03a3c2/michael-bloomberg2.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [2016 Election](/tag/2016-election/) ## 2016 Election Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Michael Bloomberg Confirms He's Looking Into White House Run by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 8, 2016 9:27 PM CUT  Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg attends a meeting during the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21) at Le Bourget, France, on Dec. 5, 2015 Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg attends a meeting during the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21) at Le Bourget, France, on Dec. 5, 2015Stephane Mahe—Reuters by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 8, 2016 9:27 PM CUT Former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg has [confirmed](http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/b6d1fc34-ce9f-11e5-831d-09f7778e7377.html#axzz3zc3fD2WP "undefined") he’s exploring a run for President in the midst of an unpredictable election season. Bloomberg told the _Financial Times_ he was “looking at all the options” in his first statement on the matter since the New York _Times_ [reported](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/24/nyregion/bloomberg-sensing-an-opening-revisits-a-potential-white-house-run.html "undefined") last month that his team was investigating the possibility of [running as an independent](http://time.com/4191502/michael-bloomberg-presidential-run/ "undefined"). “I find the level of discourse and discussion distressingly banal and an outrage and an insult to the voters,” he said, arguing that the American public deserves “a lot better.” The potential candidate said he would have to put his name on ballots beginning in March; meanwhile, he’s “listening to what candidates are saying and what the primary voters appear to be doing.” \[[_FT_](http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/b6d1fc34-ce9f-11e5-831d-09f7778e7377.html#axzz3zc3fD2WP "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4212847/bloomberg-white-house-presidential-election/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4212847/bloomberg-white-house-presidential-election/"},"headline":"Michael Bloomberg Confirms He's Looking Into White House Run","datePublished":"2016-02-08T21:27:32.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T14:53:04.153Z","description":"The former New York City mayor called \"the level of discourse and discussion distressingly banal\"","url":"https://time.com/4212847/bloomberg-white-house-presidential-election/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc383ce5c8a683c71/69887cac196cf4ebaf03a3c2/michael-bloomberg2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sarah Begley","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc383ce5c8a683c71/69887cac196cf4ebaf03a3c2/michael-bloomberg2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg attends a meeting during the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21) at Le Bourget, near Paris, France, December 5, 2015. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe - RTX1XAUU","caption":"Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg attends a meeting during the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21) at Le Bourget, near Paris, France, December 5, 2015. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe - RTX1XAUU","creditText":"Stephane Mahe—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4212847/bloomberg-white-house-presidential-election/","name":"Michael Bloomberg Confirms He's Looking Into White House Run"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"TIME Raw: Bernie Sanders Chimes In On Possible Bloomberg Run","description":"","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/7VQ1fVrJ/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-01-24T19:14:34.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/7VQ1fVrJ.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4212847/bloomberg-white-house-presidential-election/","duration":"PT33S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4212847/bloomberg-white-house-presidential-election/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```