De Blasio lands at ‘Area 51’ town on spacey campaign trail

New York Post – by Julia Marsh

PAHRUMP, Nevada — Mayor de Blasio landed his potential presidential campaign in the heart of UFO country — and brought the far-out message that America needs to redistribute all its wealth.

But even in a town that embraces its connection to the-truth-is-out-there lore Hizzoner’s weekend visit left local Democratic party leaders wondering why this stranger touched down for breakfast with them on Sunday. 

“We rarely get a politician or anyone important to come out and see us,” retired auto worker Jannis Saunders, 76, told The Post following a 90-minute sit down with de Blasio at Johnny’s diner.

Another local party official, retired casino worker John Norwell, noted that even though Democratic presidential hopefuls have been visiting the swing state, de Blasio was “the first one” to show up in Pahrump, on the edge of Death Valley.

The rural town — scene of the alien landing site in the 1996 movie satire “Mars Attacks!”— is among the stops on the Nevada Division of Tourism’s “Extraterrestrial Highway” tour, which includes a side trip to the secret “Area 51” military installation that is ground zero for alien visitation conspiracy theorists.

It’s also the hometown of the late Art Bell — who hosted the paranormal-themed, late-night radio show “Coast to Coast AM” — and has a population of 36,000, just 8,000 of whom are registered Democrats.

“I’m tickled to death that he came out here,” said Norwell, 70.

But de Blasio’s lengthy audition with elected members of the Nye County Democratic Party failed to convince Saunders that he was the right person to unseat President Trump, even if he joined the crowded field of more than a dozen Democratic candidates.

“Right now there’s too many out there,” Saunders said.

Earlier in his trip, de Blasio called for a “program of actual redistribution [of wealth] which includes much heavier taxes on the wealthy.”

That policy announcement expanded on his previous claims that the country has “plenty of money…it’s just in the wrong hands,” and came as he endorsed studying whether to pay reparations to descendants of African slaves, echoing a position previously staked out by most Democratic presidential contenders.

“There’s no question that the issue of reparations has to be taken seriously,” de Blasio said during an event in Las Vegas on Friday.

But the progressive activist who asked him about the issue, Leslie Turner, 37, wasn’t satisfied with his answer, saying: “He did what a lot of candidates do — they ‘all lives matter’ it.”

“They try to broaden reparations for everyone,” she added.

“It’s actually OK to say, ‘This is actually for black people.’ ”

Nevada marked the last of the four, pre-Super Tuesday primary and caucus states that de Blasio has visited since February, and his nine-person entourage outnumbered the Democrats with whom he chatted over a plate of scrambled eggs and chorizo.

He’s also traveled to the critical swing state of Florida and his home state of Massachusetts.

Asked by reporters when he’ll finally make up his mind about a 2020 White House bid, de Blasio repeated his now-familiar refrain of “sooner rather than later.”

De Blasio was also questioned about the growing scandal over a deal in which the city paid $30 million over the appraised value for 17 apartment buildings to be used for affordable housing, and how it might affect his presidential prospects.

The sellers’ lawyer, Frank Carone, is also the politically connected lawyer for the Brooklyn Democratic Party and has given money to de Blasio’s political action committee.

“In terms of the presidency, you know what I’ve said about that decision process: if I get to that point, we’ll talk about all the ways we’ll go about it,” he said.

“But it’s premature to talk about that now.”

City Councilman Joe Borelli (R-Staten Island) ridiculed that claim.

“It’s never premature to take steps to prevent potential conflicts of interests. It’s actually very, very mature,” he said.

Additional reporting by Bruce Golding

https://nypost.com/2019/04/07/de-blasio-lands-at-area-51-town-on-spacey-campaign-trail/