Bloomberg: De Blasio's Campaign Is Racist

In an interview with New York Magazine, NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg denounced the mayoral campaign of Bill de Blasio as "racist" because he uses his black wife and son in commercials.

"He's making an appeal using his family to gain support," Bloomberg said. "I think it's pretty obvious to anyone watching what he's been doing." De Blasio's wife, Chirlane McCray, is African-American and the couple's 16-year-old son Dante, have been ubiquitous presences on the campaign trail, even appearing in a direct-to-camera television ad in support of his father's campaign. While Bloomberg insisted he doesn't think de Blasio himself is racist, he said the candidate is using divisive politics to punch his ticket to the city's highest office. "It's comparable to me pointing out I'm Jewish in attracting the Jewish vote. You tailor messages to your audiences and address issues you think your audience cares about," Bloomberg said.

While Bloomberg has not issued an official endorsement in the campaign, in the interview he praised Christine Quinn, saying, "She did a very good job for seven and a half years of keeping legislation that never should have made it to the floor, that would have been damaging to the city, from ever getting there."