Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) on Thursday announced she is endorsing former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg in his White House bid, declaring that he is the only Democratic hopeful that can “unify” the country to defeat President Trump.
“We can resolve our most pressing problems if we have the right leader to turn innovative ideas into reality,” Bowser said in a tweet Thursday. “Bloomberg is a problem-solver with a proven track record of getting things done. He’s a mentor & friend & I’m proud to endorse him for president.”
Bowser added that she will appear alongside Bloomberg at the Atlas Performing Arts Center in Washington, D.C., on Thursday afternoon. She is set to become a national co-campaign chairwoman for Bloomberg’s team.
Bowser told reporters, after her appearance with Bloomberg at the Atlas Center, that she spoke with the White House hopeful about his history of enforcing a stop-and-frisk policy in New York City.
“I understand the regret that he expressed,” she said, when asked to respond to voters who find the past policy disqualifying. “I also understand being a mayor of a big city and wanting to make sure that your city is safe, and I appreciate that he has acknowledged that he should’ve looked at the numbers more closely and perhaps made some changes sooner.”
Bloomberg told reporters he apologizes “for what happened,” adding that the “intent was to reduce crime and I’m happy to say the murder rate went down from 650 [annually] down to 330.”
Bloomberg launched an unconventional and late White House bid in November and has since spent more than $200 million on advertising for his campaign.
The former mayor is not competing in early voting states such as Iowa and New Hampshire and instead is focusing specifically on Super Tuesday states. He has flooded the airwaves and social media with ads, and he has hired roughly 800 staffers throughout the country.
Despite his unique approach, Bloomberg seems to be gaining some momentum in the primary field.
A Morning Consult poll released on Tuesday showed that Bloomberg, the founder of Bloomberg LP, had reached double figures in support with 12 percent of Democratic primary voters saying they would support him, placing him in front of former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.).
Bloomberg still lags significantly behind former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who have emerged as the front-runners in the race.
Bowser is among more than two dozen current and former mayors to place their support behind the former New York City mayor, The Washington Post noted. Bowser’s endorsement follows one last week from San Francisco Mayor London Breed (D).
“He has the ability to beat Donald Trump this November, and that is of the most concern to me,” Breed told the San Francisco Chronicle after announcing her endorsement.
Rebecca Klar contributed.
Updated: 2:58 p.m.