Bloomberg: Obama broke campaign promises

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is occasionally mentioned as a long-shot presidential candidate, accused President Barack Obama in a magazine interview of breaking campaign promises and said he needs better advisers.

The billionaire mayor, a Democrat-turned-Republican-turned-independent, flirted with the idea of running in 2008 but eventually abandoned the idea.

He has mostly shied away from criticizing Obama, but that changed in an interview that appears in the December issue of GQ magazine. The magazine chose Bloomberg as one of its “men of the year” for 2010, among company like actor Jeff Bridges, television personality Stephen Colbert and rapper/actor Drake.

“The president, I think, needs some better advisers,” Bloomberg told GQ. “He campaigns, ’I’m gonna do A,’ and then he doesn’t do it. Now he’s [ticked] off the supporters and the opponents.” The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The mayor did not elaborate on which promises he believes Obama has broken. Bloomberg also said, as he has in the past, that he does not intend to run for president “or any other office.” Asked Thursday about the interview, the former chief executive mayor reiterated his criticism of the president and his team, particularly in advocating for American business.

“One of the things that I’ve urged the president to do is to get some business people in his close tight circle,” Bloomberg said. “One of the president’s jobs is to promote American business around the world, sell our products around the world, get people from around the world to come and invest here.” Bloomberg also had a surprise message for his own aides Thursday.

“I think we can all use better advisers — I could use some too,” Bloomberg said.