New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio says he's joining crowded field of Democrats running for president in 2020

WASHINGTON (AP) — New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio says he's joining crowded field of Democrats running for president in 2020. </s> Bill de Blasio, mayor of New York City, pauses while speaking during a 'Green New Deal' rally in the lobby of Trump Tower in New York, U.S., on Monday, May 13, 2019.

Mayor Bill de Blasio officially entered the 2020 race for president Thursday morning, vowing to make his campaign a battle against corporations and the wealthy — especially fellow New Yorker Donald Trump.

In an announcement video, de Blasio touted his familiarity with the president: "I know how to take him on."

"Donald Trump must be stopped," he added.

Trump did not waste much time in ripping de Blasio's candidacy. "He is a JOKE," the president tweeted Thursday morning.

After the announcement, de Blasio travels to Iowa and South Carolina for multiple stops over the course of four days, NBC News reported Wednesday.

De Blasio, 58, has faced more resistance to his presidential aspirations — including from his own constituents — than nearly any other Democrat in the race.

Recent polls from Quinnipiac University show the mayor's approval rating underwater in New York City, and 76% of New Yorkers told the pollster in April that de Blasio should not run for president. De Blasio's staunchly progressive rhetoric appears to have turned off New York Republicans: 70% of them disapproved of their mayor, according to Quinnipiac's April poll.

He is not particularly popular in early surveys of Iowa and New Hampshire either.

Nevertheless, de Blasio took a number of steps signaling his intention to run for the White House. The New York Times reported that de Blasio traveled to battleground states, held pricey donor events and spoke at high-profile political conferences. </s> New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Thursday that he will seek the Democratic nomination for president, adding his name to an already long list of candidates itching for a chance to take on Donald Trump.

The mayor announced his run with a video released by his campaign.

“There’s plenty of money in this world. There’s plenty of money in this country. It’s just in the wrong hands,” de Blasio says at the beginning of the video.

He concludes: “I’m running for president because it’s time we put working people first,” de Blasio says at the video’s conclusion.

In announcing his candidacy, de Blasio is seeking to claim a role on the national stage that has eluded him as mayor of the biggest U.S. city.

When he took office in 2014, de Blasio seemed briefly poised to become a leading voice for an emerging left wing of the Democratic Party.

But liberal enthusiasm faded over his first term, partly because of political missteps at home and the emergence of bigger names elsewhere. He could face obstacles trying to distinguish himself in a crowded field.

De Blasio, 58, has drawn small audiences so far in visits to early primary states including Iowa, South Carolina, Nevada and New Hampshire, where an audience of six showed up for a mental health discussion.

A recent Quinnipiac University poll found 76% of New York City voters say they believe he shouldn’t run.

De Blasio’s hometown press has, so far, delighted in disparaging his presidential hopes.

“De Blasio for President? ‘Nah,“’ read one recent New York Times headline summing up the city’s reaction to his possible candidacy.

“Who hasn’t told Bill de Blasio that he shouldn’t run for president?” asked New York Magazine.

De Blasio, though, has remained undaunted by the obstacles and said he believes he has a message that can resonate with the American public.

Political observers said that even if de Blasio’s candidacy doesn’t catch fire, he’ll be able to promote his policies and potentially angle for a job in a future Democratic administration. He is barred by term limits from running for mayor again.

“If he ran a strong and credible campaign, it could enhance his stature for gaining a major appointment or becoming a significant player, particularly if a Democrat is elected president,” said Michael Malbin, a professor of political science at the University at Albany.

But Matthew Dallek, an associate professor of political management at George Washington University, said a losing White House campaign wouldn’t come without risks.

“If his legacy is that a crisis happened and he was off campaigning in Iowa, that’s significant,” Dallek said. “So yeah, there are risks.”

On the campaign trail, de Blasio will be able to cite accomplishments like expanding full-day prekindergarten and curtailing police tactics that critics said were discriminatory, while presiding over continued drops in violent crime.

De Blasio was born Warren Wilhelm Jr. in 1961 but took his mother’s family name in adulthood because, he said, his father was “largely absent from his life.” The mayor has spoken about how his father, Warren Wilhelm, a veteran who lost part of his left leg in World War II, descended into alcoholism and killed himself when de Blasio was 18.

Born in New York City, de Blasio grew up in the Boston area and has provoked New York sports fans by rooting ardently for the Boston Red Sox. He graduated from New York University and earned a master’s degree from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs.

De Blasio met his wife, Chirlane McCray, when they both worked for Democratic Mayor David Dinkins. They married in 1994 and have two children, Chiara and Dante.

De Blasio was elected to a local school board in his Brooklyn neighbourhood in 1999 and won a City Council seat in 2001. In 2009, he was elected to the citywide position of public advocate, a job that holds little real power but comes with a bully pulpit that allowed de Blasio to build a reputation as a champion of regular citizens in a city built for the powerful.

He was not initially favoured to win the 2013 race for the Democratic nomination for mayor but was helped by the implosion of rival Anthony Weiner’s campaign after the disgraced former congressman was accused in a new sexting scandal.

De Blasio defeated Republican Joe Lhota by a wide margin in the 2013 general election for mayor. He won reelection in 2017, defeating Republican state Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis by 39 percentage points.

With his candidacy, de Blasio becomes the latest in a line of New York City mayors who have run for president. None has ever won.

John Lindsay sought the office in 1972. Rudy Giuliani ran in 2008. Michael Bloomberg flirted with a run for years before ruling it out in both the 2016 and 2020 campaigns. </s> NEW YORK -- New York City's 109th mayor officially entered the 2020 race for president Thursday, posting a video on YouTube and then appearing with his wife on "Good Morning America."Mayor Bill de Blasio's slogan is "Working People First," and he joins more than 20 other candidates vying for the Democratic nomination."There's plenty of money in this world. There's plenty of money in this country. It's just in the wrong hands," de Blasio says at the beginning of the video.The mayor took direct aim at President Donald Trump, referring to him as "Con Don." De Blasio, who is in his second term and sixth year as mayor, is expected to travel to Iowa on Friday.President Trump responded to the announcement on Twitter a short time later. Quinnipiac University poll back in April found that 76 percent of New Yorkers do not think de Blasio should run for president. The same poll found that 47 percent of respondents thought a de Blasio campaign would be bad for New York City."The first reaction is what, is he kidding?" Democratic strategist Hank Sheinkopf said. "But you know what, other mayors have tried, and they've also been forgotten by history. This guy has one big achievement in New York City, it's universal Pre-K, and that's a big deal. So can he run on that nationally? Not impossible. Will it work? The real strategy, wait till the left collapses and hope that he can pick up the pieces."De Blasio will look for a boost in three of the key early voting states.In Iowa, where union votes matter, the mayor is pro-labor. New Hampshire is close to his hometown of Boston. And South Carolina is a state with a sizable number of black voters, a group he performs well with.If he can survive until then, the field may have winnowed considerably. And polls have been wrong about him before."Bill de Blasio has never been a front runner in any race he's been involved in," Sheinkopf said. "He was a mayor by accident. He should've lost, according to polls. Ditto for public advocate. He's prepared to take risks."Following the stop in Iowa Friday, sources say the mayor will head to South Carolina over the weekend.New York City Housing Authority residents protested outside the Good Morning America studios Thursday, saying they will call on the mayor to fix the NYCHA public housing authority and solve the crisis of affordable housing in New York City.De Blasio is not the first New York City mayor to run for president.Back in 1972, Mayor John Lindsay launched a bid for the White House. After he left office, Rudy Giuliani ran for the Republican nomination. Neither candidate did well in the early voting states.---------- </s> New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, an unapologetically progressive Democrat who has been a frequent critic of the Trump administration’s policies, has decided to go after the president’s job.

De Blasio, 57, launched his candidacy for president on Thursday with the central campaign message, “Working People First,” after months of speculation that he would add his name to a growing list of Democrats eager to take on President Donald Trump in the 2020 election.

In a video released on Thursday, de Blasio returned to the theme of income inequality that animated his first mayoral campaign in 2013, when he emerged as a leading voice for the burgeoning left wing that has since reshaped his party.

“People in every part of this country feel stuck or even like they’re going backwards,” he said in the video. “But the rich got richer.”

The mayor, who is barred from seeking a third four-year term in 2021, has struggled to build a national profile, even as he has been eclipsed in the national consciousness by other progressives like U.S. senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, who are now his rivals for the presidency.

He is scheduled to travel to the early-voting states of Iowa and South Carolina this weekend to begin campaigning.

 In the video, the mayor emphasized his record of progressive accomplishments, including universal pre-kindergarten, a $15 minimum wage and paid sick leave, all in a city that has a bigger population, more than 8 million, than most U.S. states.

He also promised to stand up to Trump.

“Don’t back down in the face of a bully,” he said. “Confront him and take him on.”

Still, de Blasio faces an uphill battle to stand out among nearly two dozen Democratic contenders, including former

 Vice President Joe Biden and a long list of experienced politicians.

Most New Yorkers appear unenthusiastic about de Blasio’s presidential aspirations. A Quinnipiac University poll in April found more than three-quarters of New Yorkers did not feel he should make a White House bid.

His popularity took a hit after a federal investigation found the mayor made inquiries to city agencies on behalf of donors, though it cleared him of criminal wrongdoing. De Blasio has denied misconduct, saying he acted appropriately at all times.

De Blasio has sharply criticized Trump on issues like climate change, immigration and policing. On Monday, he held a news conference inside Trump Tower to call on the Trump Organization to meet newly enacted emissions standards in their skyscrapers, or face significant fines.

In a preview of what could be to come, the event drew scathing insults on Twitter from Trump’s two oldest sons, Eric and Donald Jr., who run the family company. The president retweeted a message from Eric Trump slamming de Blasio’s stewardship of his family’s hometown. </s> New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Thursday that he will seek the Democratic nomination for president, adding his name to an already long list of candidates itching for a chance to take on Donald Trump.

The mayor announced his run with a video released by his campaign.

"There's plenty of money in this world. There's plenty of money in this country. It's just in the wrong hands," de Blasio says at the beginning of the video.

He concludes: "I'm running for president because it's time we put working people first."

In announcing his candidacy, de Blasio seeks to claim a role on the national stage that has eluded him as mayor of the biggest U.S. city.

When he took office in 2014, de Blasio seemed briefly poised to become a leading voice for an emerging left wing of the Democratic Party.

But liberal enthusiasm faded over his first term, partly because of political missteps at home and the emergence of bigger names elsewhere. He could face obstacles trying to distinguish himself in a crowded field.

During a Thursday morning appearance on "Good Morning America," de Blasio borrowed one of Trump's favorite tactics by giving the president a disparaging nickname: Con Don.

"He's a con artist. I know his tricks I know his playbook," the mayor said.

Earlier this week, de Blasio held a news conference in the lobby of Trump Tower to blame the skyscraper for contributing to air pollution.

But the event also drew a group of Trump supporters who heckled as de Blasio hollered to make himself heard.

On Thursday Trump tweeted that de Blasio was "considered the worst mayor in the U.S."

The president continued, "He is a JOKE, but if you like high taxes & crime, he's your man. NYC HATES HIM!"

De Blasio, 58, has drawn small audiences so far in visits to early primary states including Iowa, South Carolina, Nevada and New Hampshire, where an audience of six showed up for a mental health discussion.

A recent Quinnipiac University poll found 76% of New York City voters say they believe he shouldn't run.

De Blasio's hometown press has, so far, delighted in disparaging his presidential hopes.

"De Blasio for President? 'Nah,'" read one recent New York Times headline summing up the city's reaction to his possible candidacy.

"Who hasn't told Bill de Blasio that he shouldn't run for president?" asked New York Magazine.

The New York Post on Thursday published a front-page picture simply showing a group of people laughing hysterically at the thought of a de Blasio presidential run.

De Blasio, though, has remained undaunted by the obstacles and said he believes he has a message that can resonate with the American public.

On Thursday, when asked about the Quinnipiac poll, de Blasio laughed and pointed that those same voters had elected him to office twice.

"You know, I got elected mayor with 73 percent of the vote originally, re-elected with 67 percent of the vote," he said. "I think you'd agree that the poll that actually matters is the election."

Political observers said that even if de Blasio's candidacy doesn't catch fire, he'll be able to promote his policies and potentially angle for a job in a future Democratic administration. He is barred by term limits from running for mayor again.

"If he ran a strong and credible campaign, it could enhance his stature for gaining a major appointment or becoming a significant player, particularly if a Democrat is elected president," said Michael Malbin, a professor of political science at the University at Albany.

But Matthew Dallek, an associate professor of political management at George Washington University, said a losing White House campaign wouldn't come without risks.

"If his legacy is that a crisis happened and he was off campaigning in Iowa, that's significant," Dallek said. "So yeah, there are risks."

On the campaign trail, de Blasio will be able to cite accomplishments like expanding full-day prekindergarten and curtailing police tactics that critics said were discriminatory, while presiding over continued drops in violent crime.

De Blasio was born Warren Wilhelm Jr. in 1961 but took his mother's family name in adulthood because, he said, his father was "largely absent from his life." The mayor has spoken about how his father, Warren Wilhelm, a veteran who lost part of his left leg in World War II, descended into alcoholism and killed himself when de Blasio was 18.

Born in New York City, de Blasio grew up in the Boston area and has provoked New York sports fans by rooting ardently for the Boston Red Sox. He graduated from New York University and earned a master's degree from Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs.

De Blasio met his wife, Chirlane McCray, when they both worked for Democratic Mayor David Dinkins. They married in 1994 and have two children, Chiara and Dante.

De Blasio was elected to a local school board in his Brooklyn neighborhood in 1999 and won a City Council seat in 2001. In 2009, he was elected to the citywide position of public advocate, a job that holds little real power but comes with a bully pulpit that allowed de Blasio to build a reputation as a champion of regular citizens in a city built for the powerful.

He was not initially favored to win the 2013 race for the Democratic nomination for mayor but was helped by the implosion of rival Anthony Weiner's campaign after the disgraced former congressman was accused in a new sexting scandal.

De Blasio defeated Republican Joe Lhota by a wide margin in the 2013 general election for mayor. He won reelection in 2017, defeating Republican state Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis by 39 percentage points.

With his candidacy, de Blasio becomes the latest in a line of New York City mayors who have run for president. None has ever won.

John Lindsay sought the office in 1972. Rudy Giuliani ran in 2008. Michael Bloomberg flirted with a run for years before ruling it out in both the 2016 and 2020 campaigns. </s> New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio entered the 2020 Democratic presidential primary Thursday morning, setting himself up as the best candidate in a 23-person race to challenge President Donald Trump.

In a video posted online, de Blasio outlined a number of policies he championed in the city, including a $15 minimum wage, guaranteed health care and paid sick leave. He also took direct aim at Trump, calling the President a “bully” and saying he was best equipped to beat him in 2020.

“I’m a New Yorker, I’ve known Trump’s a bully for a long time. This is not news to me or anyone else here. And I know how to take him on,” de Blasio said. “Don’t back down in the face of a bully — confront him, take him on.”

He added: “Donald Trump must be stopped — I’ve beaten him before and I will do it again. I’m Bill de Blasio, and I’m running for president because it’s time we put working people first.”

De Blasio’s Thursday entrance into the race, which was first reported by NBC News, brings the total number of candidates to 23 nearly nine months before the first votes are cast.

De Blasio will head out on the trail almost immediately following an appearance on ABC’s Good Morning America, traveling to Iowa and South Carolina on his early itinerary. The two-term mayor, who in 2017 became the first Democrat re-elected to his office in more than three decades, joins the race after months of deliberations and a handful of visits to early states like Iowa and New Hampshire.

Even before he made his plans official, de Blasio has come under fire — and some mockery — from the city’s unrelenting press corps, a group he’s clashed with repeatedly over the years and which openly delights in the mayor’s every misstep or misfortune. Still, his national profile is less defined, and de Blasio, as he introduces himself to Democrats outside New York, is expected to sell a record of progressive policy wins — bolstered by a racially diverse coalition of support — in a city with more residents than the home states of some of his rivals.

The questions dogging de Blasio, which tend to boil down to a simple “Why?,” will be familiar to him. His first campaign for mayor was greeted with similar skepticism and doubt, if not the hostility and contempt generated by his presidential ambitions. Whether de Blasio can transform those perceptions on the national stage — where he’s already been roasted by The Onion, which joked in a headline last week, “De Blasio PAC Spends $30 Million On Ads Urging Candidate Not To Embarrass Self By Running” — will be his first test.

“I think Bill de Blasio has a toxic relationship with the press corps that covers him. It goes both ways,” former aide Rebecca Katz, who is not involved in his new campaign, told CNN. “And that’s going to make it very hard for this run because wherever he will be, whatever small town in Iowa or New Hampshire, he will have NY1 and the New York Post front and center. Whether he likes it or not.”

The Post has already been alongside the mayor during some early test runs. When he got caught in an Iowa snowstorm, it crowed over his decision — reportedly unsuccessful — to drive through the blizzard. When he was forced to stopover at a motel, the tabloid gleefully reported that, “instead of enjoying some of the Hawkeye State’s award-winning barbecue or succulent steaks, he had to make do with a microwaved burrito.”

But the press hasn’t been all bad — even when it’s been critical.

De Blasio’s climate protest this week outside Trump Tower, which had to be moved inside Trump Tower because of the weather, set off a Twitter clash with President Donald Trump’s son, Eric. Their back-and-forth led Fox News host and Trump super-ally Sean Hannity to name de Blasio his “Villain of the Day” — a designation most Democratic primary candidates would gladly wear.

De Blasio’s candidacy begins now in earnest now, but he has been running against Trump and national Republicans for some time. At his November 2017 re-election party in Brooklyn, he said the city had “sent a message: You can’t take on New York values and win, Mr. President. If you turn against the values of your hometown, your hometown will fight back.”

When the Alabama state legislature passed its near total abortion ban this week, he called it “vile and illegal” in a tweet and then urged the state’s Republican governor, Kay Ivey, to come down “on the right side of history” and veto the bill.

De Blasio’s status at home has taken a hit as he ventured more openly into national politics. The popular policies — like universal pre-K and raising the minimum wage — have mostly disappeared from the headlines, which have focused on speculation over potential fundraising scandals and stories about the mayor’s commuting habits.

The murder rate in New York City is low and declined again last year, but economic inequality — the focus of de Blasio’s first campaign — remains a problem, as does the public housing authority, which has left many tenants living in squalor. De Blasio’s constant feuding with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, most visibly over the city’s troubled subway system, which is run by the state, also means he won’t enter this primary with much support from statewide leaders.

Still, predictions of de Blasio’s imminent unraveling should be tempered — as history suggests.

“There was no one who believed Bill de Blasio was going to win (in 2013),” Katz said. “Everyone thought he was crazy. He was in single digits right up until a few months before Election Day and he proved them wrong and then he went ahead and prove the pundits wrong when they said he couldn’t get universal Pre-K done, and then did in his first year.” </s> New York Mayor Bill de Blasio has released a video on YouTube announcing his campaign for president, which will be followed by an appearance on "Good Morning America" Thursday morning.

He's expected to speak to reporters in lower Manhattan later in the day. His first campaign stop Friday morning will be in Gowrie, Iowa, with his wife, Chirlane McCray. With several stops expected that day, the mayor will end the night in Sioux City. On Saturday, he'll head to South Carolina with stops in Columbia and Charleston. Sunday, he starts the day in Charleston and leaves early for his son, Dante’s, graduation.

De Blasio, who is in his second term, joins a crowded field of nearly two dozen Democrats seeking to move into the White House.

The central theme of de Blasio's campaign will be "working people first."

Earlier this week, de Blasio held an event at Trump Tower in New York to announce that eight of the president's signature namesake buildings would owe the city $2.1 million per year if the Trump Organization doesn't make changes to cut their greenhouse gas emissions, in New York City's version of the Green New Deal, which is set to take effect on Friday. As he took the stage, behind him were protesters holding signs that said "failed mayor" and "worst mayor ever," as well as his face on the body of Big Bird from "Sesame Street."

When asked if the protests foreshadow what's to come for a potential bid, the mayor on Monday said: "It means we're doing something important here in New York City, if all these people who support President Trump are opposing what we're doing. We must be doing something right."

De Blasio has been New York City's mayor since January 2014. In that role, he implemented universal pre-K and signed an executive order to exchange single-use plastics for compostable or recycling alternatives in an effort to reduce carbon emissions, plastic pollution and wildlife risks.

In January, de Blasio talked on "The View" about his plan for comprehensive health care for all New Yorkers, including 300,000 undocumented New Yorkers.

De Blasio has a history with several prominent Democrats very familiar with presidential runs. He was the campaign manager for Hillary Clinton's Senate campaign in 2000 and was sworn into office for his first term as mayor by Bill Clinton. Earlier this year, he was sworn in to his second term by Sen. Bernie Sanders. </s> The mayor of America's biggest city, New York's Bill de Blasio, is jumping into a presidential race where an expansive Democratic field includes the man running a city about 99% smaller.

The second-term mayor announced Thursday that he is running for the White House. He has spent time traveling to early primary states, hinting at a possible run before becoming the 23rd Democrat to declare a candidacy. But the progressive de Blasio could still find it hard to stand out in such a crowded race, and many top Democrats and onetime allies have cautioned him against such a bid.

The risk may not seem so daunting, however, given that Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind. — a city with 1% of New York City's population — has gotten visibility, alongside national figures like former Vice President Joe Biden, senators including Bernie Sanders and Kamala Harris, and others.

Rebecca Katz, a former de Blasio aide, told a New York City podcast in February that while she thinks his message is "100%" right, "I'm just not so sure he's the right messenger." Politico talked to others who were far more frank on background, calling a presidential campaign "idiotic" and "insane." And even as his own wife, Chirlane McCray, said her husband would "be a great president," she admitted that "the timing is not exactly right." A week later McCray tried to walk that back.

Even in his hometown there is little enthusiasm for a de Blasio campaign. An early April Quinnipiac University poll found that three-quarters of New York City voters don't want the mayor to run for president; just under half think his campaign would be bad for the city, including 43% of Democrats who express such concerns.

De Blasio has argued he has been counted down and out in his political campaigns before, only to succeed. He told The New York Times at the beginning of the year, "I have spent a lot of time in dead last in many a poll in many a race. ... It's not where you start. It's where you end."

That was true for his ascension to Gracie Mansion. When he ran for the mayor's office in 2013, the then-New York City public advocate was at the back of the Democratic pack. But as other candidates faded or imploded, de Blasio began to gain traction, and his progressive positions earned him support from activists and celebrities. De Blasio served on the City Council before being elected public advocate in 2009.

The New York mayor's progressive platform helped him win in the first place, and since then he has lamented that he doesn't get enough credit for his achievements, including decreasing arrests in the city. He faced backlash over the decision for one of the new Amazon headquarters to locate in Queens, as well as the reversal of that decision, and he has gotten backlash over the city's transit system.

Earlier this week, inside Trump Tower, de Blasio unveiled his own version of a Green New Deal for New York City, attracting pro-Trump protesters who distracted from the event.

Prior to running for office himself, de Blasio was a political aide. He served as campaign manager for Hillary Clinton's successful Senate bid in 2000, but the relationship between them has become icy over the past two decades. He was slow to endorse her 2016 presidential bid, and after originally being sworn in by former President Bill Clinton, last year de Blasio chose Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton's 2016 primary rival, to swear him in for a second term.

Now, de Blasio has joined a race that includes Sanders as a leading candidate.
Mayor of New York City Bill de Blasio announces he is running for the Democratic Party's nomination to be President of the United States in the 2020 presidential election.