NEW YORK--New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio entered the crowded 2020 presidential race on Thursday, arguing that his record of progressive accomplishments in the country's biggest city positioned him as the perfect foil to President Donald Trump.
De Blasio, 58, launched his candidacy with the central campaign message, "Working People First," becoming the 24th Democrat seeking to take on Trump in next year's election.
In a video released on Thursday, de Blasio returned to the theme of income inequality that had 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, eclipsed in the national consciousness by progressive U.S. senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, now his rivals for the presidency. He will campaign this weekend in Iowa and South Carolina, which host key early nominating contests.
De Blasio emphasized a list of progressive wins under his leadership, including universal pre-kindergarten, the end of the policing practice known as stop-and-frisk and paid sick leave, all in a city that has a bigger population, more than 8 million, than most U.S. states.
"We are the safest big city in America," he told reporters at a news conference on Thursday. "We have the most jobs we've ever had. We have the highest graduation rates from our schools that we've ever had...these are not words, these are deeds."
He promised to stand up to Trump, a fellow New Yorker, calling him a "bully" and a "con artist."
"I'm going to keep calling him 'Con Don,' because that's what he deserves to be called," de Blasio said.
In typical fashion, Trump hit back on Twitter, calling de Blasio "the worst mayor in the U.S."
"He is a JOKE, but if you like high taxes & crime, he's your man," Trump said in a tweet. "NYC HATES HIM!"
