A British newspaper has removed an article that included quotes attributed to former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio criticizing Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani after de Blasio said the quotes were fabricated.
"The story in the Times of London is entirely false and fabricated," de Blasio said in posts on X after the paper published the story Tuesday, one week before Election Day in the New York City mayor's race.
"I never spoke to that reporter and never said those things. Those quotes aren't mine" and "don't reflect my views," the former mayor wrote.
"It is an absolute violation of journalistic ethics. The truth is I fully support @ZohranKMamdani and believe his vision is both necessary and achievable," he added.
The paper said in a statement to The New York Times that it had apologized to de Blasio and “removed the article immediately after discovering that our reporter had been misled by an individual falsely claiming to be the former New York mayor.” NBC News has not obtained the statement.
The Times and News Corp. did not respond to requests for comment.
De Blasio did not respond to a request for further comment. He wrote in an op-ed for The Nation that the Times reporter successfully reached out to him by text after de Blasio had publicly denied speaking to him.
"He apologized repeatedly and noted that when he didn’t hear back after an attempt to find me through my website, he searched online for contact info. He apparently chose an e-mail to try, got a response, conducted the entire 'interview' via e-mail, and never bothered to confirm the identity of whom he was communicating with. No phone call, no Zoom, nothing," de Blasio wrote.
The bogus de Blasio comments were quickly spread on social media and in a story by the New York Post, which, like the Times of London, is owned by News Corp. The Post story was later updated with de Blasio’s comments.
The original article quoted de Blasio as criticizing Mamdani's campaign proposals for free buses and universal child care, saying, "In my view, the math doesn't hold up under scrutiny, and the political hurdles are substantial."
The comments were eyebrow-raising because de Blasio has been an outspoken advocate for Mamdani and his proposals — and a longtime bitter rival of one of Mamdani's mayoral opponents, Andrew Cuomo, who was New York governor while de Blasio was mayor. The two frequently clashed while in office, and since leaving office.
"They had to go to a Times of London reporter with this scheme because no local New York journalist would ever believe Bill de Blasio would do something to benefit Andrew Cuomo," Semafor's Josh Billinson wrote in a post on X.
