Bloomberg’s Past Admiration for Trump Post 2016 Election Surfaces in Video: ‘I Do Love You’

2020 Democratic presidential contender Mike Bloomberg has some explaining to do after a video surfaced in which he says he once told President Donald Trump , “Yes, Donald. I do love you.”

Watch the video below (starting around 24:20):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KI1UrUzRvEs&feature=youtu.be

Bloomberg recalled the friendly interaction, between Trump and himself, during a speaking event at Oxford University, England, in 2016 — shortly after the 2016 presidential election.

Bloomberg referred to a time Trump apparently told him after a 9/11 memorial, in reference to Bloomberg's critique of Trump at the Democratic National Convention that summer, "I saw your speech in Philadelphia." Trump continued, "But you really do love me, don't ya?" Bloomberg responded, "[And I said], 'Yes, Donald, I do love you, I just disagree with everything you've ever said.'"

He continued:

"If you’ve sat and had dinner with Donald Trump, you’d probably walk away saying everything he just said is bullshit, he can’t be doing that. But you have a good time. He is socially a nice person. Will he be a good president? I hope so. Because we desperately need leadership in the country and the world."

As for the 2020 Democratic presidential election, Bloomberg’s past relationship with Trump has increasingly been criticized. The former New York City Mayor has also spent a lot of money on advertisements blasting Trump .

https://twitter.com/BernieSanders/status/1229526201619951617?

In a recent Economist/YouGov survey , Bloomberg’s fans described him as "Competent, Intelligent, Progressive, Influential and Articulate." He is the 37th most popular Democrat and the 11th most famous, reads the survey.