The AFL-CIO congratulated Democrat Hillary Clinton for jumping into the 2016 presidential race but stopped short of making any endorsement.
AFL-CIO spokesman Josh Gerstein confirmed to The Daily Caller the statement is not an endorsement, saying, “The AFL-CIO, through our Executive Council, has a process for endorsements as outlined last summer.”
“We applaud Secretary Clinton’s decision to begin her campaign by going directly to voters and listening to them first. We urge all presidential candidates, in both parties, to follow her lead,” the AFL-CIO said in its official statement. “We believe she, and they, will hear an urgent need to raise wages in America, and an equally urgent need to reject corporate-driven agendas that produce everything from tax breaks for the wealthy to destructive trade agreements.”
Clinton did not have a throng of major New York heavy hitters singing her praises after she announced her 2016 candidacy for the White House. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio refused to endorse the former secretary of state on Sunday’s “Meet the Press.”
De Blasio joined a list of New York Democrats who have not jumped on the Hillary bandwagon at this time, including New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark Viverito and AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka.
Additionally, the Working Families Party still wants Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren to throw her hat into the ring, Capital New York reports.
Minutes after Clinton announced her candidacy, New York’s WFP state director Bill Lipton wrote in a statement to CNY, “The debate in this presidential campaign needs to be centered on working families’ values.” He added, “That’s why we continue to encourage Senator Warren to join the field.”
The WFP attempted to persuade Warren to run back in February, but the liberal senator said she has no plans to do so.
“Senator Warren is leading the national discussion on the need to level the playing field for working and middle class families and give all of us a shot at the American Dream — not just the 1%,” said Lipton, adding that “these are the issues we hope Secretary Clinton will begin to address.”
De Blasio, a founder of the WFP and who managed Clinton’s 2000 Senate campaign, remarked on “Meet The Press” that he needed to see more of a vision from Clinton before he could endorse her.
Clinton loyalist Hilary Rosen, a Democratic consultant at SKD Kickerbocker, tweeted out a what some considered a veiled threat when she said de Blasio’s “self aggrandizing” at Clinton’s expense wouldn’t go unnoticed.
@BilldeBlasio‘s self aggrandizing on #MeetthePress at @hillaryclintons expense won’t go un noticed. #Ridiculous
— Hilary Rosen (@hilaryr) April 12, 2015
@HillaryClinton fought for the middleclass and poor families long before #BillDeblasio could even articulate any vision at all.
— Hilary Rosen (@hilaryr) April 12, 2015
@Only4RM I don’t like how he assumed her progressive credentials on economic justice are subject to his newly invented test.
— Hilary Rosen (@hilaryr) April 12, 2015
Rosen denied she was issuing any threats saying later:
@seanmdav that’s silly. I have no threats to offer. Just my view that Dems should be supportive on announcement day.
— Hilary Rosen (@hilaryr) April 12, 2015
Rosen later tweeted she didn’t mean to disrespect de Blasio.
relax folks. i didn’t mean to disrespect @BilldeBlasio. I just think he should have been more sensitive on her announcement say.
— Hilary Rosen (@hilaryr) April 12, 2015
Not every major New York Democrat turned away from Hillary. Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Sen. Chuck Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand stepped up to the plate to offer their support for Clinton’s run for the White House.