© 2026 ABC News

Steyer has defended himself from attacks on his billionaire status by pointing to his commitment and investments to Democratic causes and grassroots organizing efforts.

\"If you look at my history for the last decade, when I think there’s something really wrong, in the United States of America, I organize around it, I put my time, effort, heart and soul into it, and I spend money on it,” Steyer, who founded the political groups NextGen America and NeedToImpeach, told reporters earlier this month in South Carolina.

He continued to defend his choice to spend millions on television ads to boost his name recognition, telling co-host Meghan McCain that while his ads run nationally, he has been focused on in-person campaigning in the early voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina.

\"PHOTO:
ABC News
PHOTO: Tom Steyer is seen on "The View."
>

\"This is not an election, it's a series of elections ... and I've been spending my time in the early primary states, not nationally,\" Steyer said.

Despite his poll numbers that remain in the single digits nationally, Steyer, who originally passed on a 2020 bid, has garnered enough support to appear in the last two primary debates, and has also qualified for next week's debate in Los Angeles.

Steyer discussed his recent plan to increase investments in Historically Black Colleges and Universities, or HBCUs, and reiterated his support for reparations for American descendants of slaves.

\"I'm so intent on strengthening [HBCUs] and making sure that we make a substantive and symbolic statement about what we care about, in terms of past discrimination and racism,\" he said on the show.

Steyer was also prodded on his signature red plaid tie that he has worn at almost every campaign event and debate thus far.

\"Well first of all I have worn a red plaid tie for 20 years and people have explained to me for 20 years that I have no taste, and I wanted to go along with that,\" he joked.

","canonicalUrl":"https://abcnews.com/Politics/businessman-tom-steyer-defends-status-2020-race-drawing/story?id=67684715","legacySlug":"/news/story/businessman-tom-steyer-defends-status-2020-race-drawing-67684715","noIndexNoFollow":false},"publishTime":"16:45","publishDate":"12-13-2019","updatedTime":"22:30","updatedDate":"12-13-2019","socialImage":{"alt":"Tom Steyer is seen on \"The View.\"","credit":"ABC News","ratio":"16x9","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/Politics/steyer-02-as-abc-191213_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg","width":992,"height":558},"datePublished":"12/13/2019 16:45:00 GMT","video":{"live":false,"id":67684715,"headline":"Steyer draws contrast with Bloomberg in 2020 race","mediaAssetTitle":"TheView_TomSteyer","description":"Steyer has invested over $40 million of his own money into his campaign.","duration":"0:43","posterImg":{"url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","width":608,"height":342},"video":{"feed":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2019/08/190813_vod_orig_steyerMIX_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8"},"playlist":["64945474","63806889","41463246"]},"relatedItems":[{"contentType":"video","date":"August 13, 2019","headline":"Who is Tom Steyer?","section":"news","slug":"/video/64945474","id":64945474,"image":{"alt":"Who is Tom Steyer?","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/Politics/190813_vod_orig_steyerMIX_hpMain_4x5_240.jpg","credit":"ABCNews.com","ratio":"1x1"}},{"contentType":"video","date":"December 23, 2020","headline":"News headlines today: Dec. 23, 2020","section":"news","slug":"/video/63806889","id":63806889,"image":{"alt":"News headlines today: Dec. 23, 2020","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/US/190701_vod_live_headlines_hpMain_1x1_240.jpg","credit":"ABCNews.com","ratio":"1x1"}},{"contentType":"video","date":"","headline":"ABC News Live","section":"news","slug":"/video/41463246","id":41463246,"image":{"alt":"ABC News Live","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/Live/abc_news_live-abc-ml-250210_1739199021469_hpMain_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"ABC News Illustration","ratio":"1x1"}}],"relatedContentSection":"news","schemaContent":{"name":"Steyer draws contrast with Bloomberg in 2020 race","description":"Steyer has invested over $40 million of his own money into his campaign.","duration":"0:43","uploadDate":"12-13-2019","publication":"12-13-2019","images":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","url":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2019/08/190813_vod_orig_steyerMIX_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","contentUrl":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2019/08/190813_vod_orig_steyerMIX_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","link":"https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/news/story/businessman-tom-steyer-defends-status-2020-race-drawing-67684715"}},"playlist":[{"id":"132281378","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132283010","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132273278","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132231169","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132206748","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132200241","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132054443","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132054798","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132033010","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131912713","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131830583","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131834976","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131554765","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131554815","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131543053","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131432442","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131121474","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131247079","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131228784","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131178806","contentType":"story","section":"news"}],"kvps":{"pgtyp":"article","lang":"en","sp":"goodmorningamerica","programmatic":"true","bundleId":"com.abcnews"}},"analytics":{"accountID":"wdgnewwdgnewgmaweb","ns":"gma","pageName":"gma:news:video","pageType":"video","globalSpecVersion":"v1.08","siteDifferentiator":"gma:site","tagID":"g_page01","userABCookie":"0","section":"news","title":"Steyer draws contrast with Bloomberg in 2020 race","pubTime":"11:45","pubDate":"12-13-2019","modTime":"17:30","modDate":"12-13-2019","taxonomyTags":"none","id":67684715,"editorialOtherSubjects":"","wordCount":"none","columns":"none","authors":"","authorsUnit":"none","authorsBureau":"none","subBrand":"Good Morning America","provider":"Good Morning America","videoName":"Steyer draws contrast with Bloomberg in 2020 race","mediaAssetTitle":"TheView_TomSteyer","videoId":67684715,"mediaOnPage":"video","legacySlug":"/news/story/businessman-tom-steyer-defends-status-2020-race-drawing-67684715"},"taboola":{}},"request":{"headers":{},"httpVersion":"1.1","method":"GET","url":"/video/67684715","vary":{"host":"www.goodmorningamerica.com","cached":true,"path":"/video/67684715","forwarded-proto":"https","device":"desktop","userab":"0"}},"viewport":{"width":1260,"height":0},"user":{}};