Former Mayor Bill de Blasio cleared up a case of mistaken identity on Thursday night, appearing on CNN with his mischievous doppelgänger who had criticized Zohran Mamdani, the mayoral front-runner, in a British newspaper.
The former mayor smiled onscreen next to the other Bill DeBlasio, a wine importer from Long Island who capitalizes the letter D in his name.
The Long Island DeBlasio attracted widespread attention on Tuesday when he responded to an email from a journalist from The Times of London and criticized Mr. Mamdani’s policy proposals. The news outlet attributed the comments to the former mayor, who protested that he never said them and asked for the story to be retracted.
Bill from Long Island said he was often confused for Bill from Park Slope, the 109th mayor of New York City.
“I have a little fun with it sometimes,” Mr. DeBlasio said on CNN.
Mr. DeBlasio said he used ChatGPT to respond to the journalist, and his answers questioned the feasibility and cost of Mr. Mamdani’s plans to make the city more affordable. In reality, the former mayor is an enthusiastic supporter of Mr. Mamdani and said his plans were achievable.
“I thought somebody was going to fact-check it somewhere along the line and call me out and say ‘C’mon, this is rubbish,’” Mr. DeBlasio said.
The former mayor concurred: “It’s funny on one level, but I agree with the other Bill — how did no one check?”
The CNN host, Erin Burnett, delighted in questioning the pair, noting that both Bills even had the same gray facial hair.
In fact, the pair had met once before, at a 2016 New York Mets game, where they took a photo together. Bill from Long Island this week shared it with Semafor.
The former mayor seemed to have moved past the kerfuffle, but had one problem with his counterpart: “I’m upset this guy is better looking than me.”
Emma G. Fitzsimmons is the City Hall bureau chief for The Times, covering Mayor Eric Adams and his administration.
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