NYC mayoral candidate hammers Bloomberg: His sense of noblesse oblige 'is being rejected hourly'

New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio slammed outgoing Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I) on Monday, not just for remarks accusing him of running a racist campaign, but for what he called a fit of defensiveness that surfaced during a Bloomberg interview with New York Magazine.

"His sort of theory of noblesse oblige is being rejected hourly by the people of this city," de Blasio told MSNBC host Chris Hayes.

Hayes then read a portion of Bloomberg's interview, published on Saturday, in which the mayor argued that the way to help the city's poorer residents is "to attract more very fortunate people. They are the ones that pay the bills," before accusing de Blasio of running a divisive campaign.

"With that theory in place -- the free-market, laissez-faire approach -- we have gotten to 46 percent of [residents] at or near the poverty level, and the mayor's own administration acknowledges that," de Blasio said to Hayes. "And it's getting worse. So, by definition, something's gotta give. You can't continue on this path productively."

De Blasio also told Hayes he was not aware that Bloomberg had called his campaign "class-warfare and racist" before back-tracking until he was asked about the remark by reporters on Saturday.

"When I heard the whole interview, I don't know what's more troubling: the comment about 'racist campaign,' or the comment about class warfare, which really gets to the fact that Bloomberg is literally in denial about the reality in New York City."

Watch de Blasio's interview with Hayes, aired Monday on MSNBC, below.

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