Mayor Bill de Blasio stuck his foot in his mouth Thursday by insinuating that African-American voters were “low information” as he attempted to rationalize why Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is struggling to attract black support.
“It stands to reason that if people have a certain amount of information — and I don’t blame them for this, I understand it,” the mayor and Sanders campaign surrogate said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
That prompted one of the show’s panelists to interject and ask: “So, you’re saying they were low information?”
“No, no, no; I’m saying you had a whole lot of candidates, which I think is a very different discussion,” Hizzoner quickly clarified. “The information that I think people received about Joe Biden was some of his historic connection, which understandably means something to people.”
The show’s co-host, Willie Geist, asked if he was referencing Biden’s longstanding relationship to former President Barack Obama, whom he served as vice president for eight years.
“But, the one-on-one race — and I do think this is just pure political science — the one-on-one race brings out a whole different set of information, a whole different set of comparisons,” de Blasio responded. “Joe Biden’s record, I think this is a fair statement, did not get a ton of examination when there’s eight candidates.”
He added: “Look, if Pete Buttigieg had had a couple different outcomes, we would be talking about Pete Buttigieg right now, not Joe Biden. So now, it’s a chance to really examine Joe Biden.”
Hizzoner’s remarks came just five days after Biden astonished political observers with a shocking rout of the competition in South Carolina, thanks to his overwhelming support in the African American community.
Biden then shocked again with a dominating Super Tuesday performance that saw him claim wins in 10 of the 14 primary states, including in competitions where African American voters don’t dominate the electorate — like Maine, Massachusetts and Texas.



