Bloomberg: Won't Run for President in 2020

Michael Bloomberg has bowed out of the 2020 presidential race.

The former New York mayor made his announcement Tuesday afternoon on his news agency, Bloomberg News.

Instead, Bloomberg, 77, is launching a campaign to help reduce carbon emissions. The effort, Beyond Coal, aims to reduce the U.S.’ carbon footprint and eliminate the use of gas, oil and coal by 2050.

The Democratic field is already crowded, with Sens. Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker already announcing bids, a sticking point in Bloomberg’s decision.

“I believe I would defeat Donald Trump in a general election,” Bloomberg said in the statement. “But I am clear-eyed about the difficulty of winning the Democratic nomination in such a crowded field.”

“It’s essential that we nominate a Democrat who will be in the strongest position to defeat Donald Trump and bring our country back together. We cannot allow the primary process to drag the party to an extreme that would diminish our chances in the general election and translate into “Four More Years,”” he added.

His immediate goal is to retire all single coal-fired power plants over the next 11 years and back efforts to curb gun violence. On which Democratic candidate he will support, Bloomberg wrote: “candidates who can provide the leadership we need — on climate change, gun violence, education, health, voting rights, and other critical issues — and continue holding their feet to the fire to deliver what they promise.”

Bloomberg flirted with a presidential run before, but as an independent. He registered as a Democrat last fall and spent recent months courting primary voters as a political centrist.

But as an older white man with strong ties to Wall Street, he likely would have struggled to win over the Democratic Party's energized liberal base that's increasingly embracing diversity.

Bloomberg is expected to play an active role in the 2020 election from the outside. His team has been preparing a massive data-driven effort to help defeat President Donald Trump.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.