Liberal magazine Jacobin’s editor-at-large, David Sirota, on Friday said that former senior Obama administration adviser Valerie Jarrett serving as the co-chair for Citigroup executive Raymond McGuire’s New York City mayoral campaign demonstrates the historically “close relationship” the Democratic Party has had with Wall Street.
“I do think it illustrates what the Democratic Party really is in miniature in a lot of ways, which is to say that the top leadership of the Democratic Party is very close to Wall Street, and it’s been that way, really, for decades,” Sirota said on Hill.TV’s “Rising” on Friday.
Sirota, who also served as a senior adviser and speech writer for the presidential campaign of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), added that he believes former President Obama could have broken up Citigroup in the aftermath of the 2007-2008 financial crisis, but ultimately decided not to do so.
Sirota also added that he found it interesting that the Democratic Party has kept close ties with Citigroup, even after the bank last week agreed to pay a $400 million fine and overhaul its internal risk management, data protection and compliance controls to settle enforcement actions by the Federal Reserve Board and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).
“You have, essentially, a top icon of the Obama administration going all in for this candidate in a crowded Democratic mayoral primary,” Sirota explained. “It just is, again, a microcosm of the Democratic Party’s relationship, very close relationship, with Wall Street even 10 years, 12 years after the financial crisis.”
With just eight months to go until the New York City mayoral primary election, Scott Stringer, the city comptroller, already formally declared his candidacy for mayor last month. The New York Times has also listed several others as anticipated candidates, including Dianne Morales, a former nonprofit executive, and a former federal housing secretary, Shaun Donovan.
Watch the full interview above.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.