NYC mayor Bill de Blasio endorses Bernie Sanders

FEBRUARY 15, 2020 12:50

BILL DE BLASIO (photo credit: REUTERS) — BILL DE BLASIO

(photo credit: REUTERS)

Senator Bernie Sanders’ campaign told CNN on Friday that New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is endorsing the candidate in the 2020 Democratic primary race.

"Mayor Bill de Blasio knows that the only way we can defeat [US President] Donald Trump is by uniting people from all backgrounds around an agenda that speaks to the needs of working families," Sanders wrote in a statement to CNN.

"Jane and I grew up in Brooklyn and we are so proud to have the support of a New York City mayor fighting every day to improve the lives of New Yorkers. Bill is a leading example of what bringing the Democratic Party together around so-called 'radical ideas' like universal pre-K; paid family and sick leave; and defending immigrant neighbors, can do for our country."

Sanders also tweeted the endorsement with a sentence from the statement he gave to CNN.

Mayor @BilldeBlasio knows that the only way we can defeat Trump is by uniting people from all backgrounds around an agenda that speaks to working families. I’m proud to have the support of a mayor fighting every day to improve the lives of New Yorkers. https://t.co/1gDzZAx9K2
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) February 14, 2020

“I'm standing with @BernieSanders because he stands w/ working families & always has. Bernie is the candidate to take Trump on & take him down. I'm proud to endorse a true progressive leader who will fight for working New Yorkers & families across the country,” de Blasio tweeted.

I'm standing with @BernieSanders because he stands w/ working families & always has. Bernie is the candidate to take Trump on & take him down. I'm proud to endorse a true progressive leader who will fight for working New Yorkers & families across the country. https://t.co/Z3j2DQklri
— Bill de Blasio (@BilldeBlasio) February 15, 2020

De Blasio told CNN, “New Yorkers know all too well the damage caused by Donald Trump's xenophobia, bigotry and recklessness, and Bernie is the candidate to take him on and take him down. I have called for a bold, progressive agenda, and that's exactly what Senator Sanders has championed for decades. I am proud to endorse a true progressive leader who will fight for working New Yorkers and families across the country."

The NYC mayor has criticized Jewish Democratic candidate, former NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg, in particular his delayed apology for supporting "Stop and Frisk" – the NYPD practice of temporarily detaining, questioning, and sometimes searching people on the street for weapons and other illegal items.

"He had almost six full years to say it was wrong... we have had plenty of inflection points where he could have said, 'You know what, I was wrong,'" de Blasio told CNN. "He has never cared to do that. And I think that says something about the veracity of this."

"I defended it, looking back, for too long because I didn't understand then the unintended pain it was causing to young black and brown families and their kids," Bloomberg said at an event in Houston at the Buffalo Soldier National Museum, according to CNN. "I should have acted sooner and faster to stop it. I didn't, and for that I apologize.”