New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announces 2020 presidential bid – By Beatrice Peterson, Zohreen Shah and Justin Gomez (ABC News) / May 16 2019
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.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images, FILE
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio walks into his polling site at the Park Slope Library on Election Day, Nov. 7, 2017 in Brooklyn.
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.
