--- title: Michael Bloomberg Confirms He's Looking Into White House Run description: The former New York City mayor called "the level of discourse and discussion distressingly banal" canonical: https://time.com/4212847/bloomberg-white-house-presidential-election/ author: Sarah Begley article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-02-08T21:27:32.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:56:19.072Z article:section: Politics og:title: Bloomberg Confirms He's Looking Into White House Run og:description: "I find the level of discourse and discussion distressingly banal." og:url: https://time.com/4212847/bloomberg-white-house-presidential-election/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc383ce5c8a683c71/69887cac196cf4ebaf03a3c2/michael-bloomberg2.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 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 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Bloomberg Confirms He's Looking Into White House Run twitter:description: "I find the level of discourse and discussion distressingly banal." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc383ce5c8a683c71/69887cac196cf4ebaf03a3c2/michael-bloomberg2.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Michael Bloomberg Confirms He's Looking Into White House Run ## Video: TIME Raw: Bernie Sanders Chimes In On Possible Bloomberg Run [Watch (HLS stream): TIME Raw: Bernie Sanders Chimes In On Possible Bloomberg Run](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/7VQ1fVrJ.m3u8) (0:33)  _Published 2016-01-24_ by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Feb 8, 2016 9:27 PM UTC  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](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Feb 8, 2016 9:27 PM UTC Former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg has [confirmed](http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/b6d1fc34-ce9f-11e5-831d-09f7778e7377.html#axzz3zc3fD2WP) 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) last month that his team was investigating the possibility of [running as an independent](http://time.com/4191502/michael-bloomberg-presidential-run/). “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.” \[[_FT_](http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/b6d1fc34-ce9f-11e5-831d-09f7778e7377.html#axzz3zc3fD2WP)\] ```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":"2026-08-04T07:56:19.072Z","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. 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