Story highlights
"He's a friend of mine. I hope he jumps in because I love the competition. I think he should do it," Donald Trump said
Bloomberg said in an interview with Financial Times that he was "looking at all the options"
Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump hopes former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg jumps in the presidential race.
“He’s a friend of mine. I hope he jumps in, because I love the competition. I think he should do it,” he said Tuesday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “I think he’s good. He’s different.”
Trump said his fellow billionaire Bloomberg was a good mayor although he called his last term “rough.”
Bloomberg previously said in an interview with Financial Times published Monday that he was “looking at all the options” when asked about a possible bid.
“I find the level of discourse and discussion distressingly banal and an outrage and an insult to the voters,” Bloomberg told the Financial Times, adding that the public deserved “a lot better.”
The New York Times reported last month that he was considering a plan to run as an independent because he was troubled by Trump’s success on the Republican side, and Hillary Clinton’s inability to stanch Bernie Sanders’ growth on the Democratic side.
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Both Trump and Sanders currently have wide leads over their respective rivals in New Hampshire, which holds the first-in-the-nation primary on Tuesday.
CNN’s Dylan Byers contributed to this report.