Most publications endorse politicians before elections, but The Nation magazine has now published an “unendorsement” of Mayor Bill de Blasio over his policing policies.
The venerable leftist publication supported de Blasio’s first mayoral bid in August 2013 when he was polling in fourth place.
“At the time, we were a lonely voice pronouncing his progressive potential. But de Blasio became mayor in large part on his promise to reform the NYPD,” the editors wrote Friday.
“Seven years later, his response to the most vital racial justice uprising in decades has been a stunning betrayal,” they wrote.
They’re now yanking back their approval citing his handling of the George Floyd protests in New York City and his refusal to endorse activists demands to cut the NYPD’s budget by $1 billion.
NYPD reforms including signing a City Council bill to criminalize police use of chokeholds are “first steps, but the are only that — incomplete, long overdue, and unlikely to satisfy,” the editors wrote in the reversal.
“As de Blasio is perhaps learning, it’s a dangerous thing to campaign on the promise of progressive change and then fail to follow through,” they wrote about the term-limited mayor.
The un-endorsement will appear in the magazine’s July 13-20 edition out next week.
A mayoral spokeswoman defended de Blasio’s record as an unabashed lefty progressive.
“There is no New York City mayor in modern history who has done more to reform the NYPD and breed trust between police and communities.
“Today, neighborhood policing exists in every community, 180,000 fewer arrests were made last year compared to 2013, and all our officers wear body cameras and are trained to recognize and reject implicit bias. There is more work to be done, but you can’t ignore the progress that’s been made,” she said.