One of New York City’s most liberal former mayors just told Sean Hannity on Fox News that “defund the police” was a mistake — and that he didn’t like what Biden did at the border.
Story Snapshot
- Former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio admitted on Fox News that the “defund the police” movement was a mistake.
- De Blasio also said he disapproves of the Biden administration’s handling of the southern border.
- He told Hannity that Democrats “rightfully” deserve criticism for the border failures under Biden.
- The heated exchange touched on crime and the flood of residents leaving New York City.
A Liberal Mayor Breaks With His Own Party
Bill de Blasio served as New York City’s mayor from 2014 to 2021. He was one of the most progressive big-city mayors in the country. So when he sat down with Fox News host Sean Hannity and admitted that two of the left’s signature positions were flat-out wrong, it turned heads. De Blasio said plainly: “Defund was a mistake. And I understand where it came from, but it was a mistake.”
De Blasio didn’t stop there. He also took aim at former President Joe Biden’s border policies, saying, “I don’t like what Biden did with the border.” He went further, telling Hannity that Democrats “rightfully” deserve the criticism they’ve received for how the Biden administration handled illegal immigration. These are not small concessions. For years, many on the left defended both positions aggressively.
The Exchange Gets Heated — and Revealing
The interview was tense. De Blasio and Hannity talked over each other at points, with de Blasio at one point snapping, “Let me finish!” The two clashed over crime in New York City and the wave of residents leaving the state. These are real problems. New York has seen significant population loss, and crime became a flashpoint issue during and after de Blasio’s time in office. Neither man offered hard numbers, but the debate itself reflected genuine public frustration.
Hannity pushed de Blasio on the migrant crisis that overwhelmed New York City’s shelter system in recent years. De Blasio acknowledged the situation was more severe than he had anticipated. That’s a notable admission. New York City spent billions trying to house and feed migrants who arrived after Biden loosened border enforcement. Taxpayers footed the bill. Many city residents — across party lines — were furious about it.
Why This Moment Matters Beyond the Shouting Match
De Blasio is not the first Democrat to break ranks on these issues. A growing number of Democratic mayors, governors, and former officials have publicly criticized their own party’s record on crime and the border since 2020. This pattern suggests something bigger than one television interview. It points to a Democratic Party struggling to hold together a coalition that is deeply divided over policies that many voters — left and right — see as having failed ordinary Americans.
What makes this story resonate beyond partisan lines is simple: people on both sides of the aisle have felt the real-world impact of these policies. Conservatives have said for years that defunding police and opening the border were dangerous ideas. Now a prominent liberal voice is agreeing — at least in part. That doesn’t mean every critique of the left is valid, or that every conservative policy is the answer. But it does suggest that the political class is slowly catching up to what many Americans already knew.
Sources:
mediaite.com, nytimes.com, washingtonpost.com, foxnews.com, instagram.com
