Democratic presidential candidate Bill de Blasio on Friday said he’s not sure 2020 rival Joseph R. Biden is connecting to “today’s” Democratic Party and that he doesn’t see Mr. Biden as a disrupting “change agent” he says will energize working people.
“My concern is that Joe Biden, too often, has not made clear the kind of positions that people need to hear,” Mr. de Blasio said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” pointing to Mr. Biden’s flip-flop-flip on the Hyde Amendment as a “classic case.”
“How does it take until June of 2019 to figure out the Hyde Amendment is something that undermines the rights of women, especially those who don’t … have a lot of money?” said Mr. de Blasio, the mayor of New York City.
Mr. Biden, who has been leading in public polling on the race for the Democratic nomination, had been a longtime supporter of the Hyde Amendment, which generally bars federal money from directly funding abortions.
He told an ACLU activist earlier this year he would support abolishing it, but his campaign later clarified that he still supported it, saying he misheard the question. A day later, Mr. Biden said he could no longer support it, citing recent GOP-led pushes to restrict abortion as part of his rationale.
“I think that is a problem for Joe Biden — I’m not sure he’s connecting to today’s Democratic Party and the issues that we need to focus on,” Mr. de Blasio said.
“For the Democratic nominee, if everyday people cannot identify that person as a change agent, someone who will disrupt a broken status quo and actually put money back in the hands of working people …,” he said.
And Joe Biden’s not that guy? Mr. de Blasio was asked.
“I don’t see it,” he said.
The mayor said another mistake he thinks Mr. Biden is making is going down the “2016 road” of talking about President Trump’s character and how he’s a bad guy.
“That’s not what people want to hear about — they want to know about the kitchen table issues,” Mr. de Blasio said.
A host pointed out that Mr. de Blasio himself is saying the president is a con man.
“Donald Trump is a con man — that’s in our favor because I think working people feel they were bamboozled,” he said.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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