Michael Bloomberg
Michael BloombergReuters

US President Donald Trump's re-election campaign said on Monday that it would no longer credential reporters from Bloomberg News to attend campaign events.

The announcement came after Bloomberg News announced that it would not investigate its boss, Michael Bloomberg, or his rivals for the 2020 Democratic nomination.

"The decision by Bloomberg News to formalize preferential reporting policies is troubling and wrong," said campaign manager Brad Parscale said in a statement quoted by NBC News. "Bloomberg News has declared that they won’t investigate their boss or his Democrat competitors, many of whom are current holders of high office, but will continue critical reporting on President Trump."

“Since they have declared their bias openly, the Trump campaign will no longer credential representatives of Bloomberg News for rallies or other campaign events," Parscale added. "We will determine whether to engage with individual reporters or answer inquiries from Bloomberg News on a case-by-case basis. This will remain the policy of the Trump campaign until Bloomberg News publicly rescinds its decision."

Bloomberg editor-in-chief John Micklethwait responded moments later, saying in a statement that the "accusation of bias couldn't be further from the truth."

"We have covered Donald Trump fairly and in an unbiased way since he became a candidate in 2015 and will continue to do so despite the restrictions imposed by the Trump campaign," he was quoted as having said.

Trump weighed in on the issue himself later on Monday, writing in a tweet, “Mini Mike Bloomberg has instructed his third rate news organization not to investigate him or any Democrat, but to go after President Trump, only. The Failing New York Times thinks that is O.K., because their hatred & bias is so great they can’t even see straight. It’s not O.K.!”

The former New York Mayor confirmed last Sunday he is joining the crowded field of Democrats seeking to challenge Trump for the presidency in the election next year.

Hours after Bloomberg’s announcement, Micklethwait announced editorial changes, including the fact that the outlet would not do in-depth investigative reporting on Bloomberg or his rivals now that the company's billionaire owner had jumped into the race.

The news outlet said this was in keeping with its practice of not investigating Bloomberg, like when he was the mayor of New York, and it extended the policy to his Democratic rivals out of fairness, the publication said.

Polls taken before Bloomberg’s entry into the race show him in seventh place, trailing the top three polling candidates – Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, and Elizabeth Warren – by double digits, with just 2.3% support among Democratic primary voters, according to the RealClearPolitics average of polls.

As Bloomberg was preparing to enter the race, Trump downplayed his presidential bid, telling reporters, “Little Michael will fail. There’s nobody I’d rather run against than Little Michael. I‘ve known Michael Bloomberg for a long time. He said a lot of great things about Trump. But I know Michael. He became just a nothing. He’s not going to do well, but I think he’s going to hurt Biden, actually.”