New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio officially threw his support behind Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-Vt.) presidential campaign on Friday, arguing that Sanders is the candidate to take down President Trump in November.
“I am standing with Bernie because he stands with working families, and always has,” de Blasio, a former 2020 presidential contender, said in a statement released by Sanders’s campaign.
“New Yorkers know all too well the damage caused by Donald Trump’s xenophobia, bigotry and recklessness, and Bernie is the candidate to take him on and take him down,” he continued.
The New York mayor also touted Sanders’s policies and record as a lawmaker.
“I have called for a bold, progressive agenda, and that’s exactly what Senator Sanders has championed for decades. I am proud to endorse a true progressive leader who will fight for working New Yorkers and families across the country.”
De Blasio endorsed Hillary Clinton over Sanders in 2016, despite sharing a number of Sanders’s progressive stances.
The mayor dropped out of the 2020 Democratic primary in September, saying he would continue to focus on the needs of the working class.
“Yes, Donald Trump lies to working people, but he at least pretends to talk to them,” de Blasio wrote in an NBC News op-ed. “That may be enough for him to win, if we do not constantly make it clear that the Democrats are the party of everyday Americans in rural counties and urban centers, the coasts and the heartland.”
Sanders’s policies and platforms, such as “Medicare for All” and raising the minimum wage, are catered toward working-class Americans.
De Blasio’s endorsement comes as former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg rises in the polls.
More than a hundred current and former mayors, including Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser and San Francisco Mayor London Breed have endorsed Bloomberg’s presidential bid.
Bloomberg’s campaign has called the growing group the “Mayors for Mike” coalition.
This report was updated at 6:28 p.m.