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About

Bill De Blasio is a Democratic politician from New York. He is the current Mayor of New York City and a candidate in the 2020 Democratic Presidential Primary.

History

Bill de Blasio was born Warren Wilhelm Jr. on May 8th, 1961 in Manhattan, New York City.[1] He was called "Bill" since childhood and after his parents divorced, he was brought up by his mother's side of the family, the de Blasio family. He entered New York City politics in 2001, winning a seat on the New York City Council for the city's 39th district. He was elected New York City public advocate in 2010, and New York City Mayor in 2013. His tenure began on January 1st, 2014, succeeding Michael Bloomberg.[2] As of May 17th, 2019, he is in his second term as mayor.

During de Blasio's tenure, he has had strained relations with the NYPD, particularly following his response to Eric Garner's Death. De Blasio vowed to work to "change the NYPD for good" and offered qualified support for protestors against the NYPD's decision to not charge the officer involved in Garner's death.[3] Police then turned their backs on de Blasio as he spoke at the funeral of two officers killed in an ambush, believing his position stoked animosity towards the police.

"Cautious Politician" Time

During the 2016 United States Presidential Election, Mayor de Blasio endorsed Hillary Clinton. At an event in New York City, de Blasio, Clinton, and Hamilton star Leslie Odom Jr., Clinton joked that it "took (de Blasio) long enough" to endorse her. De Blasio responded he was operating on "C.P. Time."[4] "C.P. Time" is an old euphemism for "Colored People Time," insinuating black people are lazy and take a while to do things.[5] Odom Jr. responded "I don't like jokes like that" before Clinton delivered the punchline, which is that De Blasio meant "Cautious Politician Time." The moment caused a stir of controversy as people criticized the cringeworthy sketch.[6]


Amazon HQ2

De Blasio was a major player in attempting to draw Amazon HQ2 to New York City, even lighting up New York City landmarks orange to attract Bezos to make NYC a location for Amazon's second headquarters. He and Andrew Cuomo were criticized after Amazon selected New York City for one of its second headquarters for pushing the deal without input from the public.

2020 Presidential Candidacy

On May 16th, 2019, de Blasio announced he was entering the 2020 Democratic Presidential Primary, making him the 23rd candidate in the race.[7]



De Blasio's campaign was met with negative reception. 76% of New Yorkers said he should not run for president.[8] Donald Trump tweeted "NYC HATES HIM!" in response to the announcement.[9]


Twitter user @eisengerj tweeted that he was told by a former de Blasio aide that de Blasio was running as a means of getting out of New York City.[9] The New York Post cover that day showed multiple people laughing at the headline of De Blasio entering the 2020 race (shown below, right).


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