Potential presidential candidate Bloomberg stops in Dover

DOVER — Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, who’s seriously considering a bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, took aim at President Donald Trump during a stop in the Seacoast region.

“My objection to Donald Trump is the way he is filling his current role in terms of representing this country, in terms of representing the public and there is an attitude and a style and lack of civility that I think is bad for the country and I find offensive,” Bloomberg told reporters Tuesday during a visit to Harvey’s Bakery and Coffee Shop in downtown Dover.

The billionaire media mogul also criticized some of his potential rivals for the nomination over their attempts to spotlight his wealth.

“They’ll try to make an issue of everything. They want to win,” he said. “And instead of trying to say what they would do and what they have accomplished, they’ll try political stuff. I was mayor for 12 years in New York City. I understand that.”

Bloomberg stopped in Dover as part of a two-day swing through the state that traditionally holds the first presidential primary in the race for the White House. The environmental and gun safety advocate, who came to New Hampshire to help form his decision on whether to launch a presidential campaign, said he would have an answer by the end of next month.

Bloomberg visited Harvey’s at the invitation of Dover-based attorney Bill Shaheen, a Democratic National Committee member from New Hampshire and longtime party activist who’s married to Sen. Jeanne Shaheen. The two huddled for more than half an hour in a booth near the rear of the restaurant.

Shaheen said Bloomberg would “be a great candidate. I think he’s done some great stuff in New York City. I think he could do some great things for the United States.”

Looking at the ever-growing field of Democrats vying to challenge Trump in next year’s presidential election, Shaheen told Seacoast Media Group that he’s going to stay neutral “for now.”

But he added that he will make an endorsement in the nomination race before next year’s primary and that he could “absolutely” see himself endorsing a candidate like Bloomberg.

Bloomberg, who turns 77 next month and who’s considered more moderate than the young progressives who are currently fueling the base of the party, chatted with some younger Democratic activists when he arrived at Harvey’s.

Dover resident Isaac Epstein, the president of the newly formed Tri-City New Hampshire Young Democrats, said a presidential candidate’s age isn’t the defining factor for younger voters.

“There are a couple of decades between me and (Democratic U.S. House Speaker) Nancy Pelosi, but that woman knows how to get stuff done. So I don’t think that age is necessarily the only thing I’m looking at,” he explained.

But he added that “I certainly do think an important part of this election is getting out the youth vote and if candidates aren’t paying attention to issues that are important to youth voters, particularly issues like climate change, then I don’t think they’re going to get a lot of support.”

Kaity Thomson, who grew up in Hampstead and lived in Dover and Durham for six years before moving to Maine, was sitting at the same table as Epstein and also had a chance to chat with Bloomberg.

“I think for the youth vote, especially for me, what’s really going to matter is stances on climate change, stances on mass incarceration, and immigration,” she said.

Climate change is one of Bloomberg’s signature issues, and he kicked off Tuesday by giving an address on climate change at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics.

Bloomberg is the latest in a long line of presidential candidates and White House hopefuls over the years to stop by Harvey’s.

Susan O’Donnell, one of the owners, explained that “we’ve been here a long time and we’re very well established and everyone knows Harvey’s for being in downtown Dover for so long.”

She said the presidential contenders “all love coming. We welcome them all.”