Politics

De Blasio On Campaigning During NYC Blackout: ‘It Doesn’t Matter Where You Are’

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Democratic New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio defended his decision to campaign in Iowa over the weekend while his city faced a blackout.

During an appearance Monday morning on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” the long-shot presidential candidate said that his location during the outage “doesn’t matter,” as he was still able to perform his duties as mayor. The outage left roughly 42,000 customers in the dark Saturday evening. (RELATED: Trump Says New York City Hates Bill De Blasio)

“What more could you have done that you did not do when you were out of town?” Joe Scarborough asked.

“Joe, again, when you are a chief executive, it doesn’t matter where you are, you are in charge of your team and making sure people are executing the plan,” de Blasio replied.

CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA - JUNE 09: Democratic presidential candidate and New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio speaks at the Iowa Democratic Party's Hall of Fame Dinner on June 9, 2019 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Nearly all of the 23 Democratic candidates running for president were campaigning in Iowa this weekend. President Donald Trump has two events scheduled in the state on Tuesday. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Democratic presidential candidate and New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio speaks at the Iowa Democratic Party’s Hall of Fame Dinner on June 9, 2019 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

De Blasio also credited law enforcement for its swift response to the outage. (RELATED: Bill De Blasio Draws Six-Person Crowd In New Hampshire)

“The important thing was to get the right people in the right place. And folks did follow that plan and that’s why it was handled. Not a single injury. Five hour duration,” de Blasio said. “Anyone who was having a problem, our first responders reached.”

The mayor has faced a strong backlash for his handling of the outage. The New York Daily News blasted de Blasio for his actions, and The New York Post went even further, calling on de Blasio to step down or be removed from office.

“Bill de Blasio does not care about New York City,” the Post wrote in a scathing editorial.
“He does not care about its people. He does not care about how it’s run.”