Thanks, Michael Bloomberg, but no thanks

But let’s be clear: No matter how many millions he dumps into cheesy TV ads, Michael Bloomberg is absolutely not someone you should support for president. He’s an out-of-touch elitist with disdain for common people, who opposes personal freedom, has a long history of sexism, and routinely chooses political ambition over principle.

To start, a vote for Bloomberg is a vote for endless restrictions on your personal freedom. The former mayor has never seen a nanny state policy that he didn’t like, from bans on (much healthier) smoking alternatives such as vaping, bans on the sale of large sodas, and his continued full-throated support for the failed war on marijuana. Bloomberg’s contempt for freedom extends to the right to self-defense — he launched a national campaign and spent millions trying to undermine the Second Amendment.

And he’s not even authentic, like say, Sen. Bernie Sanders. Sanders has awful policy positions but genuinely seems like a good person with sincere (albeit very wrong) beliefs. Bloomberg comes across as an awful person, with a long history of documented reports — largely ignored by the liberal media — of him treating women and female employees terribly and routinely making crude, sexist comments.

For instance, Bloomberg reportedly told one female employee to “kill it” after she announced her pregnancy and asked, “What is the guy dumb and blind? What the hell is he marrying you for?” upon learning of her engagement. This led even the solidly liberal Atlantic magazine to say that accusations of sexism “linger like exhaust in the air every time Mike Bloomberg is mentioned as, potentially, the next president of the United States.”

Bloomberg is also a spineless flip-flopper, a blind power-seeker willing to say whatever it takes to get elected. He has been a Republican, an independent, and now a Democrat, with a history of flip-flopping on positions he has held for decades the moment he encounters a bit of political pressure, as with his newfound opposition to stop-and-frisk, the racially biased policing tactic he wholeheartedly supported when mayor.

Americans deserve, at the very least, a president who actually believes the things he’s promised them — not another Hillary Clinton.

Frankly, there are so many better things that Mike Bloomberg could do with his billions, rather than throw millions down the toilet trying to get to 5% in the polls. Why not use that money to double-down and invest even more in the notable charitable causes he has worked on in the past, such as helping low-income students afford college? A pointless presidential campaign instead seems shamelessly egotistical. Then again, ego might as well be Mike Bloomberg’s middle name.