KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – It’s been 16 years since a Democratic presidential candidate took even a passing glance at Knoxville so when given the chance, Knoxville Democrats showed up to see former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg Friday night.

A rowdy crowd crammed into his local headquarters on Western Avenue in the same space previous candidates like U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn used.

Before he could get off two sentences he was interrupted by a woman yelling, “Thank you for coming to Knoxville.”

Knoxville is full of Americans too

The headquarters is Bloomberg’s second office in Tennessee – he opened one in Nashville in December. He said he has staffed the state with 30 workers and plans to open another five offices across the state.

You have to back to 2004 – to Wesley Clark and John Edwards – to find the last Democratic presidential candidates to stop in Knoxville, according to former Mayor Victor Ashe and Bloomberg’s state director, Ashford Hughes.

He said he tries to go to places candidates don’t typically go.

“Number one, they are Americans. Two, (they are) voters and taxpayers and they deserve respect as well,” he told Knox News after the event. “But number three, those are the people the president is supposed to be working for and I’ve got to find out what’s on their minds, what are their problems (and) what would help them with their families.”

What Bloomberg said in Knoxville

Bloomberg spoke for less than 15 minutes but hit his points saying he was running to retain sanity, honesty, inclusion and human decency to the White House.

Trump doesn’t have the skillset to be president, he said, and the country won’t survive another four years of a Trump presidency. He spoke about wanting to curb illegal handguns, universal healthcare and wanting to unite the country. He also promised to not tweet from the White House.

“I have a lot of experience in addressing crime and drugs and public education. I work very hard and I’m scrupulously honest,” he said.

“And if you talk to people who live in New York City – Republicans and Democrats, people of all ethnicities and economic levels – they would tell you that while I was there the city was dramatically better when I left them than when I started.”

Translation: defeat Trump

The standing room only crowd was excited to see a legitimate candidate, though it was unclear how many walked in or left as actual Bloomberg supporters.

The room cheered for him, laughed at his jokes and endured talk about New York sports teams as he tried to sympathize with the Volunteer faithful.

He got roars of applause when he said he was the best candidate to defeat President Donald Trump, but the crowd was nearly as loud when he said he would continue staffing campaign employees through Election Day "when hopefully we will send a Democrat to the White House."

Coffee with Mayor Kincannon

Before he opened his campaign office, Bloomberg (as he did with Nashville Mayor John Cooper) got coffee with Mayor Indya Kincannon. The two met at Perk City on Magnolia Avenue and he ordered decaf coffee with milk.

The Bloomberg campaign reached out to Kincannon’s office about the meeting and it did not serve as an endorsement from the new mayor.

The two exchanged pleasantries during their quick meeting and talked about running a city. Kincannon is finishing up her third week in office while Bloomberg served as mayor of New York City from 2002-13.

“Look, all mayors (deal with) the same thing: everybody wants something, and nobody wants to pay for it and that sort of thing,” he said later when asked about the chat. “But I think she’s got to go out, she’s got to keep, everyday, shaking hands and listening to people.

“People want to see this elected officials,” he continued. “They don’t have to agree with everything. On a lot of things not everybody in New York agreed with me, but they always thought I at least ran it by them, told them what I was going to do ...”

More about Bloomberg

The 77-year-old media executive is a billionaire businessman who has pumped millions of his dollars into his campaign since joining the race in late November. He got a late start and is polling in the middle of the Democratic field in national polls. He is one of the 15 Democratic candidates on Tennessee’s March 3 Super Tuesday primary ballot.