Bill De Blasio says Americans are ‘hungry’ for vision from socialist left

Former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Tuesday that Americans are “hungry” for the vision offered by democratic socialist and left-wing leaders including Sen. Bernie Sanders, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, crediting the three with tapping into voter frustration over affordability.

Mr. de Blasio made the remarks during an appearance on “The Ingraham Angle,” where he argued, “There are specific leaders who have emerged out of DSA who are providing a vision that actually a lot of people in this country are hungry for.”

He singled out Mr. Sanders, Vermont independent, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, New York Democrat, and Mr. Mamdani as figures capitalizing on discontent with the political establishment by centering their messaging on cost-of-living concerns.

“It is about the leaders that are emerging, like Bernie Sanders, AOC, Mamdani, some of the folks who won primaries lately,” Mr. de Blasio said. “They are pointing in a specific direction, and there’s a reason they’re winning.”

Mr. de Blasio, who has said he is neither a socialist nor a member of the DSA, nevertheless voiced support for several planks of the movement’s agenda under questioning from host Laura Ingraham, including ending U.S. involvement in the Iran war, enacting Medicare for All and raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans — positions he framed as directly addressing affordability concerns.

He also called for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to be abolished and rebuilt as a different agency, arguing the current one is “broken” and blaming it for stoking “so much violence in our cities,” while still saying the border must be secured. He additionally backed a “path to legalization” for immigrants in the country illegally who have not committed violent or serious crimes.