Bill de Blasio's decision not to offer an endorsement of Hillary Clinton until she lays out her "actual vision" has created a firestorm within the Democratic Party and raised the ire of many of the former secretary of state's supporters,
reports The New York Post.
"He's known her for, like, 20 years! He doesn't know what her philosophy of government is?" a Clinton source told the paper, while another Democratic insider said her allies "are really angry" and "furious."
The controversy began when the New York City mayor declined to publicly back Clinton during an appearance last weekend on NBC's "Meet the Press."
Story continues below video.
When asked by host Chuck Todd whether he would endorse Clinton, he said he wanted to wait.
"Not until I see — and, again, I would say this about any candidate — until I see an actual vision of where they want to go. I think, like a lot of people in this country, I want to see a vision. And, again, that would be true of candidates on all levels. It's time to see a clear, bold vision for progressive economic change."
"She has to be vetted and that can be done with or without a primary," he added.
The apparent snub of Clinton was met with angry responses from Clinton supporters, such as longtime Democratic consultant Hilary Rosen on Twitter,
according to Mediaite.
@BilldeBlasio's self aggrandizing on #MeetthePress at @hillaryclintons expense won't go un noticed. #Ridiculous
She followed with another Tweet three minutes later:
@HillaryClinton fought for the middleclass and poor families long before #BillDeblasio could even articulate any vision at all.
Later in the day, Rosen appeared to slightly
walk back her earlier tweet, writing:
relax folks. i didn't mean to disrespect @BilldeBlasio. I just think he should have been more sensitive on her announcement say.
Many viewed de Blasio's non-endorsement as a slap against the Clintons, with whom he has had a long political relationship.
The mayor worked in former President Bill Clinton's administration and successfully managed Hillary Clinton's 2000 campaign for the Senate in New York.
"This was mind-blowing to me. If the mayor doesn't have a clear sense of what Hillary Clinton's vision is for the future of this country, I don't know who does," Fordham University political science professor Costas Panagopoulos
told The Wall Street Journal.
Not all offered condemnation of de Blasio.
Glenn Greenwald, the Guardian newspaper reporter who has protected former National Security Agency staffer Edward Snowden, tweeting today:
"It's one thing to demand the Dem nominee not be criticized 6 weeks before the election. Demanding it now is repressive, dangerous & creepy."
Other liberals saw the whole episode as symptomatic of what is wrong with the current Democratic field of presidential candidates.
"This episode explains a lot about why the Democratic field looks the way it does right now. If you've got something to lose — if you hope to move higher in Democratic politics — you're not going to run against Hillary Clinton,"
writes Jim Newell of the left-wing Salon.
The extent to which de Blasio will be taken to the shed for his remarks on Sunday could become clearer this week when he travels to Des Moines, Iowa to deliver a speech at Drake University and attend a reception hosted by Progress Iowa,
reports The Albany Times Union.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.