There was little that critics could do to challenge the mayor’s self-righteousness. As Barron explains at length, a leftist takeover of the city was the point. If middle-class taxpayers were alienated and left the city, de Blasio would likely view it as good news: That simply meant that people who disagreed would not be around anymore. It was impossible to tell him that he was not serving constituents, because for him the only constituents who mattered were the loudest progressive voices and the municipal unions upon whom he showered city beneficences. As for the critics, Barron explains why they did not matter to the mayor: “Anything that bothers one of his ‘enemies’ vindicates his actions, and as a political creature, anyone who opposes him is an enemy. Therefore, the angrier he makes people, the more he knows he is doing a good thing.”
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