(Bloomberg Opinion) -- I’ve never been much for partisan politics. I’ve supported Democrats, Republicans and independents. Hell, I’ve actually been a Democrat, Republican and independent.
To me, elections are about people. And the two people running for president couldn’t be more different.
One believes in facts. One does not.
One listens to experts. The other thinks he knows everything.
One looks forward, and sees strength in America’s diversity. The other looks backward, and sees immigrants as enemies and white supremacists as allies.
Here’s another difference: One has proven he knows how to handle a crisis by helping to lead the economic turnaround after the 2008 recession. The other has not only failed to lead, he has made the current crisis much worse.
When confronted with the biggest calamity any president has faced in the modern era, Donald Trump spent the year downplaying the threat, ignoring science and recommending quack cures — which let Covid-19 spread much faster than it should’ve, leaving hundreds of thousands needlessly sick or dead.
He has failed the American people catastrophically.
Four years ago, I came before this very convention and said New Yorkers know a con when we see one. But now, tonight, I’m not asking you to vote against Trump because he’s a bad guy. I’m urging you to vote against him because he’s done a bad job.
Today, unemployment is at historic highs and small businesses are struggling just to survive. It didn’t have to be this way.
Before I ran for mayor, I spent 20 years running a business I started from scratch. So I want to ask small business owners and their employees one question — and it’s a question for everyone.
Would you rehire — or work for — someone who ran your business into the ground? And who always does what’s best for himself or herself — even when it hurts the company? And whose reckless decisions put you in danger? And who spends more time tweeting than working?
If the answer is no: Why the hell would we ever rehire Donald Trump for another four years?
Trump says we should vote for him because he’s a great businessman. Really?
He drove his companies into bankruptcy six times, always leaving behind customers and contractors who were cheated and swindled and stopped doing business with him.
Well, this time, all of us are paying the price. And we can’t let him get away with it again.
Donald says we should vote for him because the economy was great before the virus. Huh?
Joe Biden and Barack Obama created more jobs over their last three years than the Trump administration did over its first three, and economic growth was higher under Biden and Obama than under Trump. In fact, while Biden helped save 1 million auto industry jobs, Trump has lost 250,000 manufacturing jobs.