Inspiring: De Blasio Finds Someone Who Wants Him To Run For President

De Blasio finds a fan

Mayor Bill de Blasio will return to Iowa this weekend, where he plans to talk about the "vision of the future of this country" while declaring to anyone who will listen that he is not ruling out a White House bid. But as the mayor's flirtation with the nation's highest office heats up, he'll eventually have to answer some questions about where, exactly, he thinks this is going: What ideas is he presenting that aren't already on offer in the crowded Democratic primary field? How can New Yorkers expect him to fulfill his mayoral duties while jetsetting around the country each weekend? And who, besides de Blasio, actually thinks this is a good idea?

Asked the latter question—"Are people coming up to you saying like, we can’t wait to see you run for president?"—during a press conference on Thursday, the mayor demurred. "I'm not going to try and fall into the trap of the question because I’m not here for, no, I mean, look: Again, when I have something to say on that topic I will," the mayor said. "As I told you, I haven’t ruled it out."

He added, "I get a lot of encouragement from people, I know it may be hard to believe...but every day I have New Yorkers come up and talk about different things that the administration is doing that they like, and plenty of people who urge me on for the future, but I just don’t want to get into the details of it."

Skeptics of the mayor's longshot presidential quest—a group that includes a statistically significant group of New Yorkers, every public advocate candidate, and members of his own inner circle—will likely find this claim hard to believe. Indeed, past attempts by de Blasio to ingratiate himself into the national landscape ended in humiliation.

But there is at least one woman who wholeheartedly believes in De Blasio 2020. She appears undaunted by the odds, and untroubled by the mayor’s request that she repeat that thing she just said about him being president, but for the camera this time:

WNYC's Gwynne Hogan was on scene for the momentous occasion. Apparently de Blasio was in the process of crossing Canal Street when he heard the message of support from a woman selling fruit on the sidewalk behind him: "He was like 'HUH!' and then he comes back across the street, and the woman says 'I think one day you're going to be president,' and he's like: 'Is somebody getting this? 'Is ANYBODY getting this?!'

The mayor was then quickly swarmed by staffers, who recorded the message of support on their phones. "It was a commotion," said Hogan.

On Friday morning, de Blasio was again asked about Iowa during his weekly appearance on the Brian Lehrer Show, specifically the criticism that he should be focused on running the city, rather than running for president.

"I’m proud to be really hands on in the way I manage this city—the placard announcement, the Vision Zero announcement, these were years in the making," the mayor said. "I don't mind critics, I don't mind naysayers, but let’s talk about the facts."

Fact: There is at least one person in New York City who thinks the mayor should run for president. Now watch as he crams this piece of gum in his mouth, stands up, and walks away.

Additional reporting by Gwynne Hogan.