Michael Bloomberg voted for Kamala Harris ‘without hesitation’ — and slammed Trump’s ‘ignorance’

Billionaire and major Democratic donor Michael Bloomberg said he voted for Vice President Kamala Harris “without hesitation,” accusing former President Donald Trump of making the U.S. look like a banana republic.

In an opinion article for the news publication he owns, Bloomberg said he doesn’t agree with Harris on every issue but touted her outreach to independent and Republican voters on the campaign trail. Harris, when asked last month about how her administration would differ from President Joe Biden’s, said she would appoint a Republican to her cabinet.

“She is determined to lead our nation forward, and she understands that the only way to do that is by bringing people back together,” Bloomberg wrote.

His strong words come somewhat in contrast to the pressure it reportedly took for Democrats close to Bloomberg to convince him to support Harris’ campaign. Bloomberg recently donated $50 million to a nonprofit supporting her candidacy, The New York Times (NYT+1.94%) reports, adding to the $47 million he had already given during the election cycle.

Eighty-three billionaires have backed Harris’ presidential campaign, while 52 have backed Trump’s, according to Forbes. Besides Bloomberg, Harris is backed by figures such as Shark Tank star Mark Cuban and Microsoft (MSFT+0.98%) founder Bill Gates, while Trump has the support of Elon Musk and Timothy Mellon, among others.

In his op-ed, Bloomberg said Harris recognizes the need for comprehensive immigration reform and rejected Trump’s plan to millions of immigrants as “a recipe for economic disaster.” He also noted that Harris’ “politically motivated” tax policies would do “far less damage” to the economy than Trump’s tariff-heavy and tax-cutting plans.

According to most analyses published by economists, Trump’s proposals would be overwhelmingly negative for the U.S. They would hasten Social Security’s insolvency, increase unemployment, raise inflation, lower GDP, massively add to the federal debt, and boost tax rates for the vast majority of Americans.

Bloomberg, the 13th richest person in the world, also pointed to Harris’ stances on climate change, public health, and gun safety. But he also heavily leaned on Trump’s flaws in his reasoning, naming him “not fit for high office” given his election denial and the events of Jan. 6, 2021, when a pro-Trump mobbed stormed the U.S. Capitol.

“He made our country, the world’s greatest nation, look like a banana republic. Most Americans never thought we’d witness such a shameful episode,” Bloomberg wrote.

“And the preposterous lie he tells about America – that our country will end unless we elect him — reveals his ignorance about the true source of our strength as a nation,” Bloomberg added.