Michael Bloomberg’s historic £1.4bn university donation stirs talk of presidential

Michael Bloomberg, who has been mulling over a 2020 presidential bid against Donald Trump, has donated a record $1.8bn (£1.4bn) to Johns Hopkins University, his alma matter.

The former New York City mayor said in a statement he was donating the historic contribution, to be used towards providing financial aid for future students, “to open the same door of opportunity that I had for generations of talented students, regardless of financial circumstances.”

“Here’s a simple idea I bet most Americans agree with: No qualified high school student should ever be barred entrance to a college based on his or her family’s bank account. Yet it happens all the time,” the billionaire entrepreneur wrote in a New York Times Op-Ed on Sunday. “America is at its best when we reward people based on the quality of their work, not the size of their pocketbook. Denying students entry to a college based on their ability to pay undermines equal opportunity. It perpetuates intergenerational poverty. And it strikes at the heart of the American dream: the idea that every person, from every community, has the chance to rise based on merit.”

Mr Bloomberg, who recently switched his voter registration — and public political affiliation — from Republican to Democrat, once again stirred presidential chatter over the weekend with the major announcement.

He’s kept busy under Mr Trump’s presidency building inroads with Democratic leadership, pouring millions into television and radio advertisements for Democrats in battleground states in the final weeks of the 2018 midterms. House minority leader reportedly paid him a personal visit to thank him for his contributions towards the party’s political upset victory in taking back the House.

But not everyone was on board with the former mayor entering the race for the Democratic ticket.

“Don’t even talk to me about Michael Bloomberg in 2020,” New York Times columnist Charles Blow wrote in a tweet. “I’m a black man who raised blk boys in NYC. Bloomberg’s expansion and defense of the racist stop & frisk means that his candidacy is a nonstarter for me, and I will remind EVERY black person of his record.”

The post was shared by other prominent voices on the left, including social justice advocate Shaun King.

Despite his former affiliation to the Republican Party, Mr Bloomberg also faces opposition from forces on the right. After pledging his lifelong allegiance to the Democratic Party last week, the National Rifle Association tweeted, “Just when we thought we’d get a break from hearing about billionaire Michael Bloomberg and his anti-gun election meddling, he’s back!”

Mr Bloomberg polls at two per cent of support among Democratic voters according to the latest surveys, with Joe Biden leading the pack at 19 per cent, followed by Michelle Obama, Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton. Mr Bloomberg trails in ninth place, behind Oprah Winfrey and lawmakers Kamala Harris and Cory Booker.

The former mayor has told reporters he will make a decision about running for office by February.