Image by getty images

(JTA) — Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is said to be preparing to become a Democratic presidential candidate, apologized for using “disrespectful” language about women.

Bloomberg, who is Jewish, apologized through a spokesman in a New York Times article published Thursday.

“Mike has come to see that some of what he has said is disrespectful and wrong,” Stu Loeser, the spokesperson, said in the statement Thursday. “He believes his words have not always aligned with his values and the way he has led his life.”

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

The rhetoric appeared in a booklet that employees of Bloomberg’s private firm gave him in 1990. It contained quotes attributed to him.

“If women wanted to be appreciated for their brains, they’d go to the library instead of Bloomingdale’s,” Bloomberg was quoted as saying in the booklet, titled “The Portable Bloomberg: The Wit and Wisdom of Michael Bloomberg.”

Bloomberg also joked, according to the booklet, that the Bloomberg terminal, a reference to a product produced by Bloomberg’s digital data company, could “do everything,” including oral sex. “I guess that puts a lot of you girls out of business,” Bloomberg is quoted saying.

Some of Bloomberg’s controversial statements became campaign fodder during his successful 2001 race for mayor, running on the Republican and Independence Party lines.

Bloomberg came under fire after being quoted in a 1998 deposition that he’d believe a rape claim if there was “an unimpeachable third-party witness”. A saleswoman claimed a Bloomberg manager raped her. That’s “not what he believes,” Loeser said Thursday.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$90 $180

$360

Other amount