In a recent development, former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has vehemently denied claims reported by The Times of London regarding his alleged comments on New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani. De Blasio labeled the story as “false and fabricated.”

Expressing his outrage, de Blasio took to the social media platform X to clarify the situation. “I want to be 100% clear: The story in the Times of London is entirely false and fabricated,” he stated. “It was just brought to my attention and I’m appalled. I never spoke to that reporter and never said those things. Those quotes aren’t mine, don’t reflect my views.”

His post included a link to the now-removed article from The Times of London, which had seemingly vanished from their website. The New York Times also reported on this situation, highlighting that the article in question contained alleged remarks from de Blasio criticizing Mamdani’s policy proposals. According to de Blasio, these statements were entirely concocted, and he insisted that he had not communicated with The Times of London.

“I’m astounded,” de Blasio remarked, as mentioned in The New York Times. “It’s a complete fabrication.”

“I’m astounded,” de Blasio said, per the Times. “It’s a complete fabrication.”

A few hours following publication, the Times of London got rid of the article “after discovering that our reporter had been misled by an individual falsely claiming to be the former New York mayor,” per a statement from the newspaper obtained by the Times.

In a later post on X, de Blasio urged that “@thetimes pull down this story immediately.”

“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.

A spokesman for former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is running for mayor as an independent, shared a New York Post story about the interview on X, the New York Times reported.

Cuomo campaign spokesperson Rich Azzopardi, in his post, said de Blasio had read Mamdani’s “fine print” and found out they were “just glitter and vibes.”

The Hill has reached out to the Times of London for comment.

De Blasio endorsed Mamdani to lead the country’s largest city in a September op-ed in the New York Daily News, saying that Mamdani is “relentlessly challenging the status quo of deepening unaffordability.” He praised the New York State Assembly member’s calls for “bold sweeping action,” including a rent freeze, universal child care for children up to 5 years old and free city buses. 

“Yet, though many New Yorkers agree with him — many others are skeptical. Still others have lost faith in the city government’s ability to not only talk, but deliver. They want to know one fundamental truth: can it be done?” de Blasio said in his op-ed. “I can say definitely — and I know better than anyone — that the answer is yes.”