Former Mayor Bill de Blasio said in an interview Wednesday that Kamala Harris is “perfectly positioned” to run for president.
“In a sense, Kamala Harris is perfectly positioned for the kind of campaign we need to run. This is all about women. The decision of this country is going to be made by women, in particularly by suburban women,” he said on “Inside City Hall.”
De Blasio, a Democrat who had mounted his own campaign for president in 2020 but dropped out, said that Harris can reach people with her pro-choice approach and can attract younger voters and voters of color.
“There’s a real powerful possibility here,” he said.
Harris became a presidential candidate after President Joe Biden exited the race following his debate with former President Donald Trump.
De Blasio said the debate will go down in history as the “single most profound" and impactful one with the possible exception of the 1960 debate between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon.
“Let’s be honest, we all deeply appreciate Joe Biden and what he achieved. And I do think, though, there was a sense of tremendous relief when he made his decision,” he said. “And then the pure energy of a candidate who was ready to go 110%. I think it was just an incredible outpouring of support — both for her as a person and a leader, but also for the sense that we are now back in the game.”
De Blasio served as the mayor of New York City from 2014 to 2021. He saw his share of ups and downs while in office.
At the beginning of his mayoral campaign, he promised New Yorkers he would address the so-called “Tale of Two Cities.” He was able to navigate to his success of universal pre-k, which was considered his greatest achievement as mayor. However, many criticized him for his continued reduction of stop-and-frisk, failure to turn around New York City’s Housing Authority and his public feud with then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo.