By Jillian Jorgensen Jan 13, 2019 10:20 AM
Blaz for Prez?
Mayor de Blasio refused to rule out running for president in 2020 in an interview Sunday.
“I never rule things out, because you never know what life brings,” de Blasio told CNN’s Jake Tapper.
The remarks cap off a week of de Blasio courting national press for proposals like mandated paid vacation and expanded access to existing city healthcare programs.
While he told Tapper he was “focused” on his current work he said he was also eager to ditch City Hall and take his show on the road.
“I’m focused on the job I have but I’ve also been really clear — I’m going to spread this message,” he said.
De Blasio argued the party was facing serious questions in the lead up to the 2020 presidential election — and that he needed to be part of the conversation.
“There are still a lot of moderate voices in the party that did not learn the lessons of 2016, that are not listening to what people need in this country,” he said. “So I want to push this whole party and I want to inform this debate in this country about the fact that we could go a lot farther, we could be a lot bolder than what we’re doing now.”
De Blasio was re-elected as mayor in 2017 and his term runs through the end of 2021 — meaning he’d have to cut his mayoralty short and spend much of his second term out of town if he does actually make a White House bid.
De Blasio had pledged to serve his full four years as mayor if re-elected during a 2017 primary debate.
U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand made a similar promise - but appears poised to run for president anyway.
Asked if he might support his home-state senator in 2020, de Blasio demurred.
“I don’t talk about hypothetic situations,” he said. “There’s a lot of good candidates. My point is the message and the ideas that we should be talking about.”
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