Getty How tall is Mike Bloomberg? Trump is trying to make his height an issue.
Mike Bloomberg’s height has become an issue in the 2020 presidential campaign because President Donald Trump keeps tweeting about it. He has taken to calling him “Mini Mike,” making Bloomberg the latest Trump opponent to get a presidential nickname.
“Mini Mike is a 5’4” mass of dead energy who does not want to be on the debate stage with these professional politicians. No boxes please. He hates Crazy Bernie and will, with enough money, possibly stop him. Bernie’s people will go nuts!” Trump wrote on Twitter. Trump isn’t right about Bloomberg’s height, though. The billionaire former mayor from New York isn’t that short. The president shaved four inches off Bloomberg’s real height.
All that begs the question: How tall is Michael Bloomberg? He’s 5 foot 8 inches tall, according to Google and some other sources. However, the truth may be more complicated. According to the Times of San Diego, in 2014, The New York Times said that Bloomberg “exaggerated his height on his driver’s license (at 5-10),” and was 5-7. When he was mayor his height was given as 5-6, 5-7 and almost 5-8, the news site reported. His doctor told Times of San Diego that Bloomberg is 5 feet 7 inches tall.
The Times of San Diego said that its 5-2 1/2 photographer once saw Bloomberg in person and it appeared he was only 2 inches taller than the photographer at most.
Bloomberg took the debate stage in Las Vegas for the first time on February 19, 2020. It was the voters’ first real introduction to him, despite being inundated with his campaign ads. A national poll saw Bloomberg surge to 19 percent, guaranteeing him a spot on the stage. His debate performance ended up widely panned.
Here’s what you need to know:
Trump Declared That Mike Bloomberg Is a ‘Tiny Version’ of Jeb Bush
Trump is definitely trying to make Bloomberg’s height a thing. The president also wrote, “Mini Mike Bloomberg is a LOSER who has money but can’t debate and has zero presence, you will see. He reminds me of a tiny version of Jeb ‘Low Energy’ Bush, but Jeb has more political skill and has treated the Black community much better than Mini!”
Some photos flying around the Internet poking fun at Bloomberg’s small size, especially compared to Trump, aren’t true, though. According to Snopes, a picture that purports to show a huge height disparity between Trump and Bloomberg is fake. The actor James Woods is one of the Trump supporters who shared it online. It’s a manipulated version of a real photo, and Bloomberg does look a lot shorter than Trump in it, but not that much shorter, according to Snopes.
Incidentally, the president says he’s 6 foot 3 inches tall.
Photos do show a pretty big height discrepancy between Trump and Bloomberg, for whatever it’s worth. Here are two photos from Getty that were not doctored:
Joe Torre, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Donald Trump attend the 2008 Joe Torre Safe at Home Foundation Golf Classic at Trump National Golf Club on July 14, 2008 in Briarcliff Manor, New York.
Here’s another look:
(L-R) Ali Torri, Rudolph W. Giuliani, Donald Trump, New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Bill Clinton, Joe Torre, and Billy Crystal attend the 2008 Joe Torre Safe at Home Foundation Golf Classic at Trump National Golf Club on July 14, 2008 in Briarcliff Manor, New York.
According to Independent, the average height for a male is 5 foot 10 inches. The site notes that there are discrepancies in Trump’s actual height too.
Trump’s driver’s license said he was 6 foot 2 inches tall, according to Independent, but his White House doctor had him an inch taller. Some people think that change was done to minimize Trump’s weight vs. height ratio.
Bloomberg Wouldn’t Be the Shortest President
GettyHomeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff (C) speaks with U.S.Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) (R), U.S. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (L) while touring New York’s Grand Central Terminal April 25, 2005 in New York City.
If he won the presidency, Bloomberg wouldn’t set any records with his height. Six American presidents were shorter than Bloomberg. The shortest U.S. president in history, James Madison, was 5 foot 4 inches tall. Abraham Lincoln, at 6 foot 4 inches tall, was the tallest.
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