Bill de Blasio is Expected to Throw His Hat Into 2020 Ring. Remember When He Threw a Groundhog to Its Death?

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio is reportedly planning to add his name to the growing list of 21 Democratic candidates running in 2020, which means it’s time to re-live the moment he committed the negligent homicide of a groundhog and a zoo attempted to cover it up.

The New York Daily News reported today that sources close to de Blasio confirmed he has plans to announce his campaign next week — possibly by his 58th birthday on Wednesday. The de Blasio federal political action committee Fairness PAC also polled Iowa voters recently, but the group’s spokesperson Mike Casca insisted that “no decision” has officially been made.

So, apropos of nothing else, let’s recall Feb. 2, 2014 — the day de Blasio launched a Staten Island groundhog into the ground, causing her to die a week later.

The incident began when de Blasio visited the Staten Island Zoo for a Groundhog Day celebration and posed for photos with the rodent — which was actually not the official “Staten Island Chuck,” but was instead a stand-in named Charlotte, per a New York Post investigation on the debacle. After picking up the animal and looking toward the cameras and cameras, de Blasio quickly lost control of the groundhog which flew out of his slippery hands and hit the ground with a deep thud.

The mayor can then be seen laughing at the groundhog’s fall.

Zoo officials found Charlotte dead in her cage a week later. Source told the Post that the cause of death was “acute internal injuries,” which they found to be consistent with the impact from the groundhog’s fall. The city-funded zoo also told several supporters of their center that Charlotte’s demise was natural to conceal de Blasio’s culpability in the rodent-slaughter.

A spokesperson for the zoo said it is “unlikely” that the fall caused by de Blasio killed the rodent, but did not officially deny it.

As for the mayor’s 2020 campaign, he hasn’t even officially announced yet and a Quinnipiac University poll has already found him to be one of the least liked potential candidates.

“With a negative 24 – 49 percent favorability rating, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has the worst net score among any Democrat in the survey,” the March poll found. “New York City voters give their mayor a negative 36 – 48 percent favorability.”

Watch the infamous groundhog fall above, via YouTube.

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