Rupert Murdoch: Michael Bloomberg should run for president

Rupert Murdoch wants former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a fellow media mogul, to launch a 2016 presidential bid, he said in tweets sent Sunday night.

With Trump becoming very serious candidate, it’s time for next billionaire candidate, Mike Bloomberg to step into ring. Greatest mayor.

— Rupert Murdoch (@rupertmurdoch) August 24, 2015

Agree much about Bloomberg, nannystate, etc, but still a great philanthropic executive who, with Guiliani, made NY the greatest.

— Rupert Murdoch (@rupertmurdoch) August 24, 2015

{mosads}Murdoch followed up with a pair of tweets a couple of hours later, saying, “I did not say I would vote for him!   Just a friend I admire,” and, “Far away from world’s troubles here on Great Barrier Reef swimming and reading.  Seems irresponsible.”

Murdoch is the head of News Corp., which owns newspapers including the New York Post and The Wall Street Journal, and until recently oversaw Fox News and other networks as CEO of 21st Century Fox.

The Australian billionaire’s apparent desire to draft Bloomberg — the Democrat-turned-independent who left office in 2013 and has sent no signals he’s interested in a 2016 White House bid — followed a tweet apparently indicating newfound respect for the bid of Donald Trump.

Earlier this summer, Murdoch hit out at GOP presidential front-runner Trump — himself a billionaire real estate tycoon — as “wrong” regarding his remarks about Mexican immigrants committing crime and for “embarrassing his friends,” after Trump questioned Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) status as a war hero.

He also sent a tweet suggesting Trump could emerge “unscathed” from the first GOP debate earlier this month and another saying his popularity is “based on frustration with DC and endless regulations over people’s lives.”