Rivals Bill de Blasio and Joe Lhota teamed up to denounce Iran at the United Nations Monday – but the unity didn’t last long, with Lhota suggesting afterwards that de Blasio’s governing philosophy borders on socialism.
“We do have a very very different philosophy overall. And quite honestly there are words that I don’t like to use, but his own words, in his own words he called himself a democratic socialist. It’s really unfortunate that that’s the level that we’ve come to in this city,” Lhota told reporters after speaking at the Jewish Community Relations Council press conference – which he left just before de Blasio arrived.
Lhota was referring to a remark de Blasio made as a young activist in 1990, when he said at a meeting that he was an advocate of “democratic socialism,” according to the New York Times.
Asked if he believes de Blasio is anti-capitalist today, Lhota said, “He’s done nothing to show his support for the business community of New York whatsoever, and I think that’s indicative of his core political philosophy. You need to ask him what he is. I’m using his words, not my words on that.”
He was critical of de Blasio’s travel to Nicaragua in the 1980s to do humanitarian work as an ally of the leftist Sandinista regime, as they fought the U.S.-backed counter-revolutionary contras – and of his honeymoon trip to Cuba.
Supporting “the Sandinistas, who were fighting Americans as well as capitalism, was absolutely not the right thing to do during the Cold War,” Lhota said. “Going to Cuba illegally is never a good thing in this country.”
Closer to home, Lhota cited de Blasio’s opposition to subsidies for Fresh Direct to set up shop in the Bronx as evidence of their fundamentally different views.
“We do have very very different political philosophies, especially in light of what my views are as to how our economy works, how he believes our economy works,” Lhota said. “It’s pretty obvious we think very very differently about the way the governments of the world should work and the way the people should interact with their government.”
One thing the pair could agree on was the JCRC’s call for a tough stance against Iran, ahead of new Iranian president Hassan Rouhani’s speech to the U.N. Tuesday. They joined a slew of city pols, including Democratic controller candidate Scott Stringer and his Republican rival John Burnett, current controller and ex-mayoral hopeful John Liu, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, and others.
“The Islamic nation of Iran continues to move forward with the creation of nuclear weapons and continues to move forward with its spreading terrorism all throughout the world,” Lhota said. “Words are not as important as actions. It is very very important that we continue to pressure on Iran.”
De Blasio was similarly skeptical of Rouhani’s more friendly rhetoric. “We won’t be fooled by pretty words until we see fundamental changes in policy. Until we see Iran move away decisively from the acquisition of nuclear weapons, we will remain vigilant.”
De Blasio left without taking questions, refusing to answer queries from more than a dozen reporters who trailed him three blocks to his car.
Update: De Blasio told reporters in Queens, including our Jennifer Fermino, that he does not remember making the “democratic socialism” comment, but said his past activism is consistent with his current progressive vision.
“The reason I got involved with activist work from the beginning was I saw inequalities, I saw unfairness whether it was what we face in neighborhoods all over our city or whether it was the way our country was treating small counties in our hemisphere,” de Blasio said. “So fighting for equality for me, I say this humbly, is my life’s work.”
“I’m not surprised that my opponents will throw labels and call names. That’s a Republican tactic, that’s a right wing tactic, we’ve all seen it plenty of times. But I’m very, very proud to be a progressive,” de Blasio said.
IMAGE: DAVID HANDSCHUH/NY DAILY NEWS
