Former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is now conceding that progressive calls to “defund the police” and relaxed border policies were mistakes, offering a sharp reassessment of positions he once defended.

De Blasio, who recently found himself confused with another individual sharing his name in a news report, made the remarks during a friendly appearance with Fox News host Sean Hannity on Hannity’s podcast, “Hang Out with Sean Hannity.”

“In retrospect, the whole concept of ‘defund the police’ made no sense,” de Blasio said as the Democrat sat with a margarita.

“It made sense to say, `how can we do better?’ It made sense to say, hey—and by the way, a lot of cops told me this. A lot of police leaders told me this—we’ve got to do a lot more for young people to give them positive alternatives, because that’s good for the police too. That’s good safety too.”

Hannity responded, “We’re not disagreeing, right? This is amazing.”

De Blasio responded, “So far we’re doing good. We’re doing—so defund was a mistake. And I understand where it came from, but it was a mistake.”

During another portion of the discussion, de Blasio also acknowledged that President Joe Biden’s handling of the southern border had fallen short.

“We’re going to have some common ground. Are you ready?” de Blasio teased Hannity.

“I’m shocked,” Hannity said.

“OK – I don’t like what Biden did with the border,” said de Blasio, who served as mayor from 2014 to 2021.

Hannity asked him, “Why didn’t you say it then?”

“Because honestly,” de Blasio said, “I didn’t think it was as bad as it was. And then, when I saw it during Biden’s time, that he was able to reverse course in that final year and tighten up the border—no, I mean, that’s the irony.”

Hannity pushed back, arguing that Biden acted too late and should not be credited for tightening border enforcement after the situation had already escalated, which he said led to a surge of migrants arriving in cities like New York.

“Something changed. Obviously, something changed,” de Blasio said.

“So we better drink more of your margarita,” Hannity joked. “This is going to get tougher.”

De Blasio then confesses, “We, as Democrats, rightfully deserve that critique.”

The comments drew reactions from conservative figures in New York, some of whom welcomed the shift while noting it came long after de Blasio left office.

“Even a stopped clock is right twice a day,” quipped state Conservative Party chairman Gerard Kassar.

“Unfortunately, de Blasio didn’t say this when he had the power to make a difference. But I’m glad he’s admitting he’s wrong.”

Kassar added that de Blasio could have seen the scope of the migrant crisis firsthand by visiting areas such as the Roosevelt Hotel in Midtown Manhattan, which was used temporarily as a shelter.

While in office, de Blasio did not explicitly embrace the slogan “defund the police,” but he did back a major reduction in police funding during the unrest following George Floyd’s death in 2020.

The City Council ultimately approved an $88.1 billion budget that redirected roughly $1 billion away from the NYPD.

At the time, de Blasio defended the move, saying he believed the city had reached the proper balance.

“We are reducing the size of our police force by not having the next recruit class,” he said at the time. “We are reducing our overtime levels. We’re shifting functions away from police to civilian agencies.”

However, less than a year later, in April 2021, de Blasio reversed course and approved $105 million for the construction of a new NYPD precinct in Southeast Queens, responding to strong demand from local residents and reversing an earlier decision to scrap the project amid pressure to cut police spending.

{Matzav.com}