Bill de Blasio touts himself as a man of the people, a forward-thinking progressive who intimately understands the needs of every New Yorker, great and small. He claims to be committed to championing the rights of the underdog and leveling the playing field to create more opportunities where few exist.
His played-out references to his multiracial family succeed in creating the promise of a post-racial New York in light of racially charged policies such as Stop and Frisk. But a closer inspection reveals another Bill behind the mask of the affable would-be leader, a man that would surprise, if not disturb, most New Yorkers if they saw him.
Bill de Blasio’s closest political operatives have been linked to organizations that are left-wing even for liberal New York — some of which that have engaged in anti-Semitic activity. And not a trivial college club membership or handing out flyers at a rally. These questionable organizations have done everything for de Blasio, from lining his pockets to providing him with the personnel to execute his bidding while serving as public advocate. Whatever de Blasio’s intentions may be, a thorough Internet search shows reasons for concern.
To start, a particularly damning Buzzfeed article linked de Blasio to a pro-Sandinista organization called the Nicaragua Solidarity Network of Greater New York. In a fundraising letter signed by de Blasio, the Nicaragua Solidarity Network lauded the Sandinistas for having “humility that progressives have found refreshing and necessary.”
But the Sandinistas were not all talk. No, indeed: a big reason why the Nicaragua Solidarity Network supported the Sandinistas was because they were men of action. Some of the action taken included bombing Nicaragua’s only synagogue. Before that, the Jewish population fled Nicaragua due to the mounting political pressure. Let that sink in: Bill de Blasio had a leadership role in an organization supporting men carrying out terrorist acts, destroying the only Jewish community in that country. That’s a serious skeleton to have in your closet. The next mayor of New York should not have such blight on his record, especially in a city that has been home to many thriving Jewish communities since the turn of the last century.
But that’s just the beginning. De Blasio has also been endorsed by SEIU 1199, one of the East Coast’s largest unions. In addition to its size and influence, SEIU 1199 has communist origins, even going to far as loaning its space for an event honoring the life of alleged Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez. Chavez, who enjoyed business and political partnerships with other communist and socialist countries such as Cuba, Bolivia, and Nicaragua, had long disparaged the United States and contributed to the complicated diplomatic relationship between the United States and many Latin American countries.
The most worrisome detail in this ménage a communiste might be de Blasio’s relationship with ACORN, the disgraced grassroots organization alleged to have committed voter fraud. Some of de Blasio’s top campaign members came directly from ACORN, and his top advisers during his time as public advocate were either top organizers at ACORN or leaders within the Working Families Party, with whom ACORN keeps close ties.
At the very top of de Blasio’s election and advisory team, holding the reins and calling the shots, are people whose past involves leadership in an organization steeped in controversy. In addition to this curious information, campaign finance records show that de Blasio accepted contributions from SEIU 1199 and the Working Families Party.
The result of surrounding himself with far-left staff has been predictable. Emboldened by his friends and financed by the upper echelons of the Democratic war machine (they might pretend not to have one, but they do), de Blasio launched a campaign to prevent Target from donating to conservative PACs. In other words, accepting donations from liberal billionaires is fine but a corporation donating to a conservative coalition of their choice is not.
New York is not comprised of left-wing conspiracy theorists who dream of a socialist paradise, no matter how loudly the labor union organizers might yell. New York is home to people of all ages, colors, ethnicities, religions, and political affiliations. Bill de Blasio’s loyalties to socialist groups prevent him from appreciating the full spectrum of New Yorkers and raise the question of whether he is prepared to lead a complex and multifaceted city. Would you want a mayor in the pocket of unions with communist sympathies, or would you want a mayor who knows what you need and will fight tooth and nail to get it?