Zohran Mamdani’s cheerleader Bill de Blasio denied giving an interview Tuesday that criticized the Democratic socialist candidate — just before the publication yanked the story offline.
The Times of London report published about an hour and 30 minutes before it was taken down claimed de Blasio told the newspaper that the Democratic nominee’s math on his proposed $10 billion in socialist freebies “doesn’t hold up.”
“In my view, the math doesn’t hold up under scrutiny, and the political hurdles are substantial,” de Blasio was quoted as saying about Mamdani’s plan to fund his pie-in-the-sky promises, like free buses and universal childcare.
Bill de Blasio, a top cheerleader for the far-left Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani, has reversed course on the mayoral hopeful’s socialist to-do list — saying now the math to cover tab “doesn’t add up.” William Farrington
“While the ambition is admirable, the cost estimates — reportedly exceeding $7 billion annually — rest on optimistic assumptions… about eliminating waste and raising revenue through new taxes.”
But de Blasio told The Post soon after the UK Times’ article was published that “story is entirely false and fabricated.”
“I never talked to that reporter and I never said those things,” he claimed. “I believe in Zohran and his vision, which I’ve said publicly many times.”
“I’m demanding via my tweet that they take down the story immediately,” he added, referring to a similar statement he posted on X calling the article fake news.
Soon after, the article page showed an “error” message with the words “Sorry, we can’t find the page you are looking for.”
“In my view, the math doesn’t hold up under scrutiny, and the political hurdles are substantial,” de Blasio said. James Messerschmidt
The Times did not return requests for comment. The journalist on the story, Senior US Reporter Bevan Hurley, also did not respond to a request for comment.
De Blasio has publicly supported the leading mayoral contender, even sporting a “Hot Girls for Zohran” T-shirt at a recent protest.
He endorsed the Queens assemblyman in a fawning op-ed about in September — claiming his “bold, sweeping” agenda would save the city.
“We don’t just need Zohran Mamdani to be our mayor because he has the right ideas, or because they can be achieved,” de Blasio wrote in the op-ed.
The DSA hopeful — who recently praised de Blasio as his favorite, recent New York City mayor– has proposed cutting billions from the budget and a tax hike on the wealthy and corporations to cover the tab for his to-do list.
De Blasio has long been an ally of Mayor Eric Adams and even gave him a heads-up that the op-ed was coming, telling the incumbent he would have been in his corner if stuck with the Democratic Party line.
Adams just recently backed ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s independent bid for mayor and was out on the campaign trail stumping for him on Tuesday.