It would be difficult for former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to jump into the race for the Democratic presidential nomination at this point of the campaign, even if he does have billions of dollars to spend on advertising, one of his potential rivals, Andrew Yang, said Friday.
"I'm friendly with Mike," Yang told CNN's "New Day." "He's a great philanthropist, was a stellar mayor, but it's going to be really difficult for him to jump in right now and now replace the thousands of conversations many of the candidates have had with (his) ad buys."
There are limits with what money can do, Yang added, and that's already being seen with some of the other candidates.
"I think he's going to have his work cut out for him if he jumps in," said Yang, joking that a Bloomberg candidacy will "probably change the price of advertising."
However, he said he does think Bloomberg has a "very valuable perspective to offer. As an American, I'm glad that he is looking at the race because he's an extraordinary leader and has done a lot for the country."
Yang also touted his own $1,000 a month universal income plan, even if he doesn't think Bloomberg would take him up on the offer.
"The fact is that when the dividend is distributed in Alaska every year, it goes to the richest Alaskan and the poorest, and that makes it universal," he said. "It removes any stigma. It's not like you're getting it, I'm not getting it. You don't have to keep track of how much people are making. That's part of what's made the petroleum dividend universally popular for decades."
Yang also talked about the ongoing impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, reiterating that he thinks there is a risk that Democrats are focusing too much on it.
"We have to face fact that not a single Republican crossed party lines to vote for impeachment proceedings, which strongly suggests that it's going to run aground in the Senate," said Yang.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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