Late Friday, it broke that Rupert Murdoch told an Australian publication (interestingly, one he does not own) that Michael Bloomberg had told Murdoch that he found President Obama the most “arrogant” man he had ever met. The reason we care, of course, is that some in Bloomberg’s circle want the Jewish New York City mayor to run for president (a new New Yorker piece reports he might be willing to spend between $1 to $3 billion of his own money on a campaign; for what it’s worth, Ross Perot’s son-in-law thinks it maybe a good idea. A Bloomberg candidacy in turn could very well be how one former Alaska governor finds herself in the White House. (Saleswoman’s gotta dream!)
An amusing sidenote concerns exactly how Murdoch quoted Hizzoner: According to Murdoch, Bloomberg said, “I never met in my life such an arrogant man.” And I never met in my life an Aussie media baron with such an ear for a Yiddish-inflected manner of speaking!
Murdoch: Mayor Bloomber Called President Obama the Most ‘Arrogant’ Man He Ever Met [ABC News]
Bloomberg, 2012? [The New Yorker]
Earlier: How Bloomberg Could Make Palin President
Bloomberg for President?
Marc Tracy is a staff writer at The New Republic, and was previously a staff writer at Tablet. He tweets @marcatracy.