Boston Mayor Michelle Wu appeared on "The Daily Show" Tuesday, praising the city on the national stage.
Speaking with host Ronny Chieng on the Comedy Central late-night talk show, Wu got a standing ovation from a New York crowd that mostly cheered her on throughout the interview — but she drew some boos at one point early on.
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"Don't make me go against New York here — better sports teams, better quality of life," she said.
The mayor talked about her mother's struggle with mental health challenges and the role she played taking care of her while raising her younger sisters.
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"Boston has really given me everything that I cherish in my life — the health care that saved my mom's life, the schools that helped me and my family get to where we are," she said. "It's the best city in the world."
She touched on the chaotic nature of running a major city in modern times.
"I remember, all the time growing up, my parents would say to me and my siblings — in Mandarin — 'When you grow up, get a job that pays well, is very stable, and won't get you in trouble.' So I've now been dragged before Congress, threatened with criminal prosecution, I'm working really hard," Wu said. "But at the end of the day, this is where it matters. All the programs that we put in place to keep the streets clean, to make our schools actually supportive for our students, to protect people in our communities in a really scary moment, that is what city government's for."
Chieng asked her what the hardest part of being mayor is.
"I think it's that people have a lot to say, and everyone's voice has a place in our community, and when you have so many decisions that come after a long history — also of being a place where, for 400 years, people have stood up for the right thing, fought hard to make a difference — finding that consensus is complicated," Wu said. "It's beautiful, it's a hard job — you can't fake it in Boston, people will call you out — so you have to show up, everywhere, and keep working, and it's a hard job, but it's the best job, and I love it."
Responding to a question about her testimony on Capitol Hill about sanctuary cities, Wu continued to point to data showing Boston as the safest major city in the country.
"We're the safest city because we're safe for everyone. In a community where over a quarter of your residents were born in another country, if people are afraid to drop their kids off at school, or call 911 when they need help, or share information when they actually have information to report about a crime that happened, that makes everyone less safe, whether or not you are an immigrant," Wu said. "We're really focused on being that home for everyone, and it's worked."
She said the national criticism of cities with sanctuary policies is based on rhetoric, not statistics.
"All of the buzz around whether these kinds of cities that are more welcoming for immigrants are more dangerous, it's about a false narrative that immigrants are somehow more likely to commit crimes or cause harm, and that is just simply not true," she said.
Watch the full interview below:
