New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday it would be a "huge mistake" for Congress to approve the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a legislative priority for President Barack Obama, and called on Hillary Clinton to take a public stand against it.
"I’d like to see a very clear statement that this trade deal should be opposed and should be stopped," de Blasio said during a conference call with reporters that he organized,
The New York Times reported. "Democrats all over the country are looking to her for leadership."
At the same time, de Blasio praised Clinton's opponents in the Democratic presidential primaries, former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley and Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont. Both oppose TPP, and de Blasio said they are saying "important and appropriate things on trade."
De Blasio was Clinton's campaign manager in her successful bid for U.S. Senate in 2000, and the mayor raised eyebrows in April when he declined to endorse his former boss for the Democratic presidential nomination.
He has remained mum on the subject ever since, and has declined to attend Clinton's upcoming campaign kickoff on New York City's Roosevelt Island on Saturday.
This has fueled rumors that the mayor may launch a presidential campaign of his own. Others have said he's simply trying to pull Clinton's policy stances further to the progressive left.
Tom Cochran, the chief executive of The United States Conference of Mayors, said, "We all know what he is doing. He has an open conspiracy to have what we call a progressive agenda — that’s what I call it. Some people say it’s a New Left agenda. We all know he’s been quite vocal."
According to The Wall Street Journal, Obama made a rare trip to Capitol Hill on Friday in an attempt to convince more House Democrats to stand with him on the trade deal.
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