New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio on Thursday said voters want someone willing to stand up and be “tough.”
“Every voter wants someone who will stand up for them and be tough about it. … We’re talking about the presidency of the United States — you better be tough. You better be able to take on whatever fight is out there,” Mr. de Blasio said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
In Wednesday evening’s Democratic presidential debate, Mr. de Blasio had gone after former Rep. Beto O’Rourke of Texas on issues such as health care and war powers.
Mr. de Blasio has been polling in the low single digits, and Mr. O’Rourke has slipped in recent polling on the race for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, the top-polling candidate on the stage Wednesday, emerged largely unscathed and free from similar criticism from other candidates such as Mr. de Blasio.
The mayor disputed the notion that the Wednesday debate entailed “name calling” or making “personal low blows.”
“No one called anyone sleepy,” he said, a possible reference to President Trump’s nickname for former Vice President Joseph R. Biden, who will take the debate stage Thursday evening on the second night of the Democratic National Committee’s opening 2020 debate.
“Everything was about substance and issues, and you should feel passion — you should feel urgency,” Mr. de Blasio said. “People should engage each other on big issues. I thought it was a very substantive debate.”
“And look, in the end, we’re going to have unity in the Democratic party — I don’t doubt it,” he said.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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