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New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has thrown his hat into the crowded 2020 Democratic presidential primaries.
“There’s plenty of money in this world. There’s plenty of money in this country. It’s just in the wrong hands,” de Blasio says at the beginning of a campaign announcement video he posted Thursday to YouTube. The spot proceeds to list his progressive accomplishments as New York City mayor, including raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour; passing a bill ensuring that workers would receive paid sick leave; guaranteeing health care, including mental health; and providing free pre-K for all New Yorkers.
After that, the spot pivots to discussing President Donald Trump, with de Blasio drawing special attention to the fact that the president is a fellow New Yorker.
“I’m a New Yorker. I’ve known Trump’s a bully for a long time. This is not news to me — or anyone else here — and I know how to take him on,” de Blasio says in the ad. From there, he denounces Trump for separating migrant families and pulling America out of the Paris climate agreement.
“Donald Trump must be stopped. I’ve beaten him before, and I will do it again,” de Blasio declares. He closes the ad by including his slogan — “Put Working People First” — by saying, “I’m Bill de Blasio. And I’m running for president, because it’s time we put working people first.”
Mayor de Blasio foreshadowed his would-be presidential campaign earlier this week with a policy specifically aimed at President Trump. In an effort to curb greenhouse gas emissions coming from New York City buildings, de Blasio announced a new policy, which would impose financial penalties on landlords who fail to get their buildings up to new emissions codes.
“Our message is loud and clear,” de Blasio explained in a statement earlier this week. “We’re tackling climate change head-on with NYC’s Green New Deal and are the first city in the world to require all big buildings to cut their emissions, with the goal of a carbon neutral city by 2050. President Trump – you’re on notice. Your polluting buildings are part of the problem. Cut your emissions or pay the price.” The statement described eight of Trump’s buildings as “dirty” and “inefficient” and claimed that they “pump approximately 27,000 metric tons of greenhouse gases into our air each year — the equivalent of 5,800 cars.” It also made no bones about de Blasio’s support for the scientific consensus on climate change, a veiled swipe at Trump’s denial of scientific fact.
“Over many decades of study, scientists have reached an overwhelming consensus that climate change is occurring now and is caused by human activities,” the mayor’s office said in the statement. “Extreme weather events, which are growing in frequency and severity around the world, demonstrate the consequences of a warming planet and the risks associated with climate denial. In New York City, Hurricane Sandy resulted in the deaths of 44 New Yorkers and caused $19 billion in damages and lost economic activity. Projections show that a Sandy-like storm in the 2050s could cause $90 billion in damage and economic loss, nearly five times Sandy’s impact.”
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