New York Mayor Bill de Blasio on Friday fired back at President Donald Trump for bashing his 2020 candidacy, mimicking Trump’s style of personal insult by hitting him with a slew of nicknames.
In a tough-talking interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” the Democratic hopeful mocked Trump as “con Don” and “very low energy” for a Twitter video in which the president discredits de Blasio’s run and tells him to get back to his mayoral duties.
“He’s a con man,” de Blasio said. “He’s a trickster. We’ve all watched what he’s up to, and he told working people in this country in 2016 he was going to be on their side and he was going to be there to make their lives better. He conned everyone.”
Pointing to Trump’s tariff hikes that are hurting U.S. farmers and consumers, the mayor argued the president is serving the nation’s richest 1% at the expense of average Americans.
Soon after de Blasio announced his candidacy on Thursday, Trump posted a video from his presidential plane, calling him “the worst mayor” in the city’s history.
“I wish him luck, but really it would be better off if you got back to New York City and did your job for the little time you have left,” Trump said in the clip. “Good luck. Do well.”
De Blasio, appearing unfazed by the jabs, said that as a New Yorker, he knows “how to deal with the bully.”
“There’s nothing about him that intimidates me,” the mayor said on MSNBC. “I look forward to fighting him head on. And you saw in that video, I’m already under his skin. And you need a candidate to take him on who knows his tricks and knows how to deal with him. I did a counter video by the way ― and I noted that his video was very low energy. I don’t know if you saw that. Very low energy.”
“Low energy” is a signature Trump insult, which he flung at former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush during the 2016 GOP campaign.
“I really think you better rest up because you’re going to need it for the election ahead,” de Blasio said. “We’re coming for you.”
De Blasio has squared off with the president’s family in recent days over Trump Organization properties that the mayor says fail to comply with the city’s newly enacted Green New Deal.
The plan mandates that buildings cut greenhouse gas emissions or face hefty fines. The city maintains that eight Trump buildings must be retrofitted, including Trump Tower, or the company will face $2.1 million in annual penalties beginning in 2030.
De Blasio, in a tit-for-tat Twitter battle this week with Trump’s son Eric Trump, who runs the real estate business along with brother Donald Trump Jr., warned him to fix the “polluting buildings” or “pay the price.”