Former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg is considering whether or not to jump into the 2016 presidential race as an independent, the New York Times reported Saturday.
Yes, that's right: Bloomberg looked at Donald Trump and thought, "this New York billionaire seems to be doing well, so why not another one?"
The Times says that Bloomberg would only enter the race on certain conditions—such as whether Trump wins the Republican nomination or Bernie Sanders the Democratic nomination—but that, if he does get in, he could spend as much as $1 billion of his own money on a campaign. That sound you heard was campaign finance advocates across the land having heart attacks.
It should be noted that Mike Bloomberg is always mulling a presidential bid. He repeatedly concluded that there was a limited constituency for his very New York combination of social liberalism, grumpiness and enthusiasm for plutocracy. Still, he would not be the first extremely rich man to look in the mirror and decide that he needed to save the American people from themselves. And crazier things have happened. Did you know that Donald Trump is running for president, and leading the race?
Whatever's happening, it sure makes this picture even weirder in retrospect.
Read more about Bloomberg's thoughts at the New York Times.