Bill de Blasio finally endorses Hillary Clinton for president

The wait is over: On Friday's Morning Joe, New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio finally announced his endorsement in the Democratic presidential race. And after months of holding out and checking out the options — he met with Bernie Sanders in September — de Blasio made the choice everyone thought he would make: Hillary Clinton.

Though de Blasio did not attend Clinton's campaign launch in New York in June, he has long had ties to Clinton, running her successful 2000 Senate campaign. "She has said what she believes in," de Blasio said Friday. "This is a very sharp progressive platform. I believe she will follow through on it." Clinton, he says, is the candidate who "can fundamentally address income inequality."

De Blasio's choice will be a "blow" to Bernie Sanders, Politico reports, because both de Blasio and Sanders "hail from the progressive wing of the Democratic Party and have focused intensely on issues related to poverty and income inequality."

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Morning Joe host Mika Brzezinski did wonder why it took him so long to come out and support Clinton. De Blasio's response: "I think it is fair for any candidate to have to lay it out."