Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who briefly considered an independent run of his own for the presidency, Saturday slammed candidates on both sides of the ticket, saying they're spreading blame rather than offering solutions to the nation's problems.
"In this year's presidential election we’ve seen more demagoguery than I can remember in our lifetime," Bloomberg said during the University of Michigan's commencement ceremony, where he was awarded an honorary degree,
Politico reports.
He called on the graduates to vote, as "we're all in this together and we must be part of the solution...voting is the only way to stop demagogues.”
Republicans are blaming Mexicans and Muslims for the nation's woes, said Bloomberg, in a swipe at Donald Trump, and Democrats blame the wealthy and Wall Street, he said, in a reference to Bernie Sanders.
"America's power comes not from the walls we build, but the doors we open, and it comes not from tearing down success but building up opportunity," Bloomberg said.
He warned the graduates about "free" promises, telling the students in another swipe at Sanders that "those who promise you a free lunch will invariably eat you for breakfast."
Bloomberg also called college safe spaces a "terrible mistake," telling the graduates that the purpose of college is to "learn how to deal with difficult situations, not to run away from them."
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Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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