Hosts On 'The View' Grill De Blasio On Progressive Initiatives
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Mayor Bill de Blasio's quest to command the national spotlight as a top figurehead for progressives, along with a potential run for president down the road, hit an unexpected and surprising speed bump on Wednesday.
De Blasio's blind ambition to help the poor, redistribute wealth, and become the next president from New York has been on full public display recently, but the women of ABC's "The View" did their best to burst the bubble of Bill and the Technicolor Dreamcoat.
The mayor meant to sell his health care for all along with other progressive initiatives to a national audience, but found himself on the receiving end of the ultimate insult.
"You're starting to sound like a Republican," co-host Joy Behar quipped.
"Well, Joy, I know you meant it in the best way," hizzoner replied.
The women raked de Blasio over the coals over several issues, including his new NYC Care initiative.
"People are saying 'I don't want my taxpayer dollars to pay for it'," co-host Sunny Hostin pressed.
What about fears that homeless people will come to the city in search of free health care?
"If you have people who are flocking here, because I'm assuming they will to get free health care, how do you pay for that?" co-host Abby Huntsman asked.
De Blasio responded, saying he doesn't foresee that becoming a problem.
"Where we've seen the homeless problem is warmer environments, people go to the west coast, they go to places that are warmer," the mayor said.
Whoopi Goldberg was heated about all the bike lanes.
"What feasibility did you all do when you decided to put these in?" she asked.
Whoopi went on and accused de Blasio of being out of touch.
"You go through the city with a police escort," she said. "I come in every day. I find that because you can't make a turn anywhere, you can't go straight anywhere. When there's a storm people can't move anywhere because you got all these medians in the way. I'm just saying, you might want to take a look at this."
Political experts say the quest for the spotlight can sometimes boomerang.
"New Yorkers on that panel today were interviewing him," Hank Sheinkopf said. "They're New Yorkers. They work in New York. They have a very different opinion of how things are than he does, and it should be a warning to the mayor."
Sheinkopf says the mayor should also worry about the fact that outtakes from the show could turn up in negative campaign commercials if he does take the plunge for national office.
After the interview, a spokesman for de Blasio defended the city's bike lanes, saying the mayor believes in them because they save lives and get people out of cars.