After far-left New York Mayor Bill de Blasio (D.) ripped Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D., N.Y.) as a vengeful, selfish politician in an interview Tuesday with NY1, MSNBC's Morning Joe panel widely agreed his behavior was both "strange" and a detriment to the fortunes of the city.
"This is just an open broadside by the mayor," said co-host Willie Geist.
"What I found was he engaged in his own sense of strategies, his own political machinations, and what we’ve often seen is if someone disagrees with him openly, some kind of revenge or vendetta follows," de Blasio told NY1.
"I don’t believe the Assembly had a real working partner in the governor or the Senate in terms of getting things done for the people of this city and, in many cases, the people of this state."
Setting off a potential civil war in the Democratic Party, de Blasio accused Cuomo of being more interested in "transactional" politics and "horse trading" than in doing what’s best for Gotham.
"I started a year and a half ago with a hope of a very strong partnership," de Blasio told reporters at a City Hall news conference before heading off on a West Coast vacation. "I have been disappointed at every turn."
"I’m not going to be surprised if these statements lead to some attempts at revenge," he added.
Cuomo's camp responded with a sarcastic statement, read out by co-host Willie Geist. "For those new to the process, it takes coalition building and compromise to get things done in government," said spokeswoman Melissa DeRosa. "We wish the mayor well on his vacation."
"In many respects, at the end of the day, the governor holds all the cards, because the mayor's going to need to go to the governor to get certain things done for the city, and this is not a good way to get those things done," said MSNBC contributor Michael Steele.
Fill-in co-host Mike Barnicle was asked by Joe Scarborough, "What's de Blasio doing?"
"I don't really know, but it is certainly not helpful to New York City that the mayor of the city refers to the governor as someone seeking revenge ... Is Bill de Blasio setting up a series of straw dogs that everyone is against him and he's the only one fighting for the people?" Barnicle asked. "He's been doing that in a sense with the police department for awhile ... He continues it now waging one-on-one war against Andrew Cuomo, which is not going to work for Bill de Blasio or New York."
Yahoo!'s Bianna Golodryga added the sympathy card would not play well for de Blasio, seeing as his allies are limited in Albany and New York. Barnicle said he had "no idea" what de Blasio was thinking in going after Cuomo so publicly.
One of de Blasio's frustrations with Cuomo was what he felt were behind-the-scenes maneuvering over state control over the city's schools. Geist took exception with de Blasio's multiple references to expecting revenge from Cuomo for criticizing him.
"It's not like he's looking for a solution there," Geist said. "It's almost like he's setting himself up that he wants the conflict. He wants the push and pull with the governor. It's a strange, strange move."