Mike Bloomberg has reportedly recruited top Clinton ally, Capricia Marshall, for his 2020 presidential campaign amid rumors that he is considering making Hillary Clinton his running mate.
A source told PageSix that Marshall, who has worked under Bill and Hillary Clinton as well as former president Barack Obama, could help Bloomberg become more credible in numerous ways.
‘Capricia is very connected to the Democratic political orbit and will give Bloomberg a stronger link to the Dem establishment, and therefore more credibility,’ the source told the news site.
‘She will help convince them Mike is not a quasi-Republican after he heavily backed GOP candidates in the past.’
According to the source, Marshall will also be able to help Bloomberg reach women and the African American community, ‘which remains unsatisfied with his apology over his stop-and-frisk policy as New York City mayor’.
Mike Bloomberg (left on Thursday) has reportedly recruited top Clinton ally, Capricia Marshall (right in 2015), for his 2020 presidential campaign amid rumors that he is considering making Hillary Clinton his running mate.
A source claims that Marshall, who has worked under Bill and Hillary Clinton (Marshall pictured with Hillary) as well as former president Barack Obama, could help Bloomberg become more credible in numerous wayy
It is unclear what position Marshall would be taking under the Bloomberg campaign.
‘Hiring Capricia is a very smart move. She’s a big deal,’ the source said. Marshall has previously served both Clintons and the Obama administration.
From 1997 to 2001, she worked as Bill Clinton’s White House social secretary. In 2006, she served on then-Senator Hillary Clinton’s re-election campaign. From 2009 to 2013, Marshall worked as the chief of protocol of the United States under Obama.
News of Marshall possibly joining the Bloomberg campaign comes just a day after it was reported that the former mayor may be considering making Hillary Clinton his running mate.
Polling found the Bloomberg-Clinton combination would be a formidable force to take on Trump in the race for the White House, the source said.
Bloomberg is said to be considering even changing his official residence from New York to Colorado or Florida – where he also has homes – because the electoral college makes it difficult for the president and vice-president to reside in the same state.
Under the Twelfth Amendment to the US Constitution, which provides the procedure for electing the president and vice-president, it states that the two people could not both inhabit the same state as the elector.
Bloomberg’s campaign would not confirm or deny the reports when DailyMail.com reached out for comments.
From 1997 to 2001, Marshall (right, in 2010) worked as Bill Clinton’s White House social secretary. In 2006, she served on then-Senator Hillary Clinton’s re-election campaign
From 2009 to 2013, Marshall worked as the chief of protocol of the United States under Obama (pictured walking with Marshall, second from left)
‘We are focused on the primary and the debate, not VP speculation,’ communications director Jason Schechter said in a statement.
Clinton’s primary home is in Chappaqua, New York.
Two new Democratic primary polls have also recently shown Bloomberg in the lead in Florida, while Sen Bernie Sanders tops the field in Texas.
Both Bloomberg and Sanders have teeny tiny leads over former Vice President Joe Biden, who took a beating in both Iowa and New Hampshire.
The Florida poll shows Bloomberg with just a one-point lead over Biden, with the ex-mayor receiving 27 per cent support from Florida Democrats compared to Biden’s 26 per cent support.
Bloomberg’s edge comes from having about a 10-point lead over Biden among white survey respondents.
The former mayor gets the support of 28 per cent of white Floridians, versus the 18.5 per cent who selected Biden as their first choice for Democratic nominee.
Former first lady Clinton previously said she faced calls to run for president in 2020 after she lost out to Trump in the 2016 election, but she has repeatedly said she won’t join the race.
However, she stopped short of denying she was considering running for vice-president alongside one of the Democratic candidates earlier this month.
‘I never say never because I do believe in serving my country, but it’s not going to happen,’ she told Ellen DeGeneres.
Both Bloomberg and Bernie Sanders (right) have small leads over former Vice President Joe Biden (left), who took a beating in Iowa and New Hampshire. The Florida poll shows Bloomberg with just a one-point lead over Biden
In January, President Donald Trump made the strange claim that Clinton had promised Bloomberg the job of secretary of state should she be elected president in 2016, to keep him from running four years ago.
‘He had a deal with Hillary Clinton that he was going to become secretary of State. It was very simple. People knew that,’ Trump said during an interview on CNBC filmed on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
The president then suggested Bloomberg would have been double-crossed.
‘Wasn’t going to happen. It was going to go to Terry McAuliffe,’ Trump said, name-dropping the former governor of Virginia who’s been a close Clinton friend.
‘I mean, so they were playing with Michael,’ Trump alleged. ‘And – it’s too bad, but he’s spending a fortune.’
Bloomberg had endorsed Clinton over Trump in 2016, saying at the Democratic National Convention in July 2016 that though ‘there are times when I disagree with Hillary,’ the country must unite to ‘defeat a dangerous demagogue’.
‘Let’s elect a sane, competent person with international experience,’ Bloomberg said at the time.
Last week was a busy one for Bloomberg after he was forced to apologize for a recording that was leaked online of him talking bluntly about his stop-and-frisk policies.
‘Ninety-five percent of your murders – murderers and murder victims – fit one M.O. You can just take the description, Xerox it and pass it out to all the cops,’ Bloomberg is heard saying in the recording.
‘They are male minorities, 16 to 25. That’s true in New York. That’s true in virtually every city.’
‘And that’s where the real crime is. You’ve got to get the guns out of the hands of the people that are getting killed.’
Trump tweeted: ‘WOW, BLOOMBERG IS A TOTAL RACIST!’
On Thursday, Bloomberg apologized for endorsing the stop-and-frisk policy.
‘There is one aspect of approach that I deeply regret, the abuse of police practice called stop and frisk,’ Bloomberg said.
‘I defended it, looking back, for too long because I didn’t understand then the unintended pain it was causing to young black and brown families and their kids.’
‘I should have acted sooner and faster to stop it,’ he continued. ‘I didn’t, and for that, I apologize.’