With only a week to go before the first votes of the 2016 presidential race, Republicans on Sunday waved around endorsements from others and dismissed former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg as a potential third-party threat.

The candidates spoke on NBC's "Meet the Press" following reports that Bloomberg once again was considering running for president.

Bloomberg was a longtime Democrat who became a Republican to run for mayor in 2001 and later switched to be an independent. She said Sunday she'll "relieve" him of that decision by winning the nomination. So I don't think we will be seeing Bloomberg in the race. I don't know if we're friends anymore, frankly.

According to the source, Bloomberg has told aides to begin making plans for the campaign and has stated to friends and associates that he would be willing to spend at least $1 billion of his own money on a campaign for the November 2016 election.

Trump noted that he and Bloomberg have differences on the issues of gun control and abortion and that he would love to compete against him.

According to the Times, Bloomberg is now seriously considering a run in a way he hasn't before, thanks to chaotic nomination races that threaten to overthrow the establishment candidates of both major parties. But they said Bloomberg has expressed concern about the damage caused by revelations she used a private email address and server while serving as secretary of state, and he fears she may emerge atop the Democratic field as a weakened nominee.

Trump said on CBS News' "Face the Nation" that he would "love" to have Bloomberg enter the race.

"My reaction is, if Donald Trump wins [the nomination] and Mr. Bloomberg gets in, you're going to have two multi-billionaires running for president of the United States against me", Sanders told host Chuck Todd. "He's wanted to do this for a long time and he never pulled the trigger". If the former mayor joins Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton and Brooklyn-born Bernie Sanders, Ted Cruz would have an even richer target for his Gotham bashing.

In 2015, Bloomberg praised Bush as one of the candidates he thought would best lead the country as president.

American democracy, Sanders said, is not supposed to be about a contest between billionaires.

His plans were first reported Saturday by The New York Times. "There are a lot of guys like that", Rubio said on "Fox News Sunday".

Meet the Press was once again the forum for Democratic frontrunner Bernie Sanders to weigh in on Michael Bloomberg as a possible contender.