The appearance on national television came at an appropriate time for WU, who soon officially launches his re -election campaign and has ridden a support fund after her performance in DC put it in the center of national attention.
Wu was greeted by enthusiasts, applause and permanent ovation from the studio audience, when he went on stage to join Chieng for the interview on Tuesday night.
“Ovta, in New York, for the mayor of Boston, is very difficult to obtain,” noted Chieng, before sinking in Wu’s career and political environment. “I usually do not make demographies so big, but how would you become mayor?”
Wu laughed, joking, “I ask myself this question,” before I continue to refer to her experience growing in a family of immigrants and move to Boston to participate in Harvard University. When her mother began to fight with mental illnesses, she assumed responsibility for her mother and two younger sisters.
“I went through a lot with my family and, in those most difficult times, it was often felt that the government was the place we had to fight instead of something to help us,” said Wu. “There are so many families working the most, trying to do their best and, in many ways, we just have to make sure that the necessary supports are not only there, financed, but also connected to each community. For this we fought.”
Chieng, who lived in New Hampshire for a few years, reiterated the question about how he convinced 64 percent of Boston voters to support her in the primary elections of 2021. In response, Wu doubled in her defense on the city.
“You could be surprised by Boston – next time you will come, we will have to take you a little longer,” Wu said. “We are an incredibly diverse, welcoming, beautiful city. We are majority people of color, we are 28 percent people born from another country, and Boston is a place where people have always come for almost 400 years to do good in the world.”
When Chieng asked what is the hardest part of his job, Wu said diplomatically.
“The voice of everyone has a place in our community … (and) to find that the consensus is complicated,” she said. “You can’t fake it in Boston, people will call you, so you have to introduce yourself everywhere and continue to work. And it’s a hard job, but it’s the best job and I like it.”
Also, Chieng has questioned Wu about her leadership strategy when national democrats do not have much political success. Wu claimed to focus on the basics.
“At the end of the day, we may not vote the same or worship the same or follow the same types of shows or follow the same influentials or anything else, but you still want your streets to have stuffed holes, you want your children to go to the best schools,” Wu said. “You cannot escape locally only with the discussion, you really have to be there.”
Also, Chieng addressed the performance of WU in a Congress hearing in early March, in which he testified along with three other mayors of the Liberal city, as part of an investigation led by the Republican on the policies of cities on how local officials helps the federal efforts to apply immigration.
The local and state law allow only Boston officials to comply with the requests of the federal authorities to withhold the suspected persons not to have legal status, if they also have a criminal mandate for their arrest.
During the meeting, Wu fought the attacks of the Republicans, while also landing his own hits. She pointed to the record of the Boston’s violent crime record and claimed that cities are safer when everyone, regardless of immigration status, feels safe with their community.
“If people are afraid to give up children at school or call 911 when they need help or (to) share information when they actually have information about a crime that has happened, which makes everyone less safe, whether or not you are an immigrant. “All the noise around it if these types of cities are more welcoming for immigrants are more dangerous, it is a false narrative that immigrants are somehow more likely to commit crimes or cause harm, and this is not simply true.”
At the end of the interview, Chieng made a cruel, but also optimistic and subjective observation: “If you can become the mayor of Boston, perhaps one of the most racist cities in America, then there may be hope for everyone.”
Niki Griswold can be accessed at niki.griswold@globe.com. Following it @nikigriswold.