Michael Bloomberg has put his political reporters — and the rest of the newsroom — on edge after he suggested in a Radio Iowa interview that he would potentially nix the outlet’s political coverage if he were to follow through with plans to run for president in 2020, Buzzfeed News reported.
Bloomberg also told Radio Iowa that he would probably sell his company or put it in a blind trust if he runs.
“Quite honestly, I don’t want all the reporters I’m paying to write a bad story about me,” Bloomberg told the radio station, adding that his reporters could just “not cover politics at all” or attach a disclaimer to each piece that is published.
According to sources familiar with the matter who spoke to Buzzfeed, the comments sparked “paranoia” in the newsroom, in Buzzfeed’s words.
“A lot of people are confused and don’t really know what to expect in the next two years,” a Bloomberg News staffer told Buzzfeed.