Battenfeld: Wu now Trump public enemy number one, posing dilemma for Kraft

Mayor Michelle Wu has strategically positioned herself to be President Trump s society enemy number one posing a dilemma for rival Josh Kraft whose family and super PAC have close ties to Trump While Kraft a Democrat has repeatedly mentioned he s never supported Trump Wu has cornered the son of Patriots owner Robert Kraft to take stronger action to defend himself The fact that the Boston mayor has drawn such a bold line between her and Trump on issues like immigration and cuts to federal funding indicates she sees that as a campaign plus and a detriment to Kraft Whether it s fair or not is another question One of the pro-Kraft super PAC s top financial backers is New Balance s Jim Davis who donated million Davis has been a big financial supporter of the Trump campaign in previous years Robert Kraft is also a friend and supporter of President Trump Trump appointed Robert Kraft s wife to the Kennedy Center board this year Those facts have only emboldened Wu Mayor Michelle Wu will stand with locality leaders to defend Boston in the face of millions of dollars in negative attacks on the city by Trump donors and out-of-state billionaires her campaign disclosed in a message Josh Kraft s super PAC is flooding Boston with negative advertisements that attack our city and solely are not true Never mind that the super PAC ads don t veritably attack Boston directly Wu saying it has the same effect in voters minds Starting with her State of the City speech Wu has repeatedly invoked Trump when talking about Kraft Her campaign is bound to ramp up her attacks on Trump and Kraft in the coming weeks because it s been an effective strategy It s a key part of her battle plan Frankly it s a little exasperating Kraft notified the Boston Globe about his ties to Trump I ve announced it a million times I ll say it a million more times I ve never voted for Trump never given a cent Kraft called stories about his ties to Trump a complete distraction from the issues facing the city of Boston I love my dad all right We agree on plenty of things One of the things we disagree on is Donald Trump and we ve disagreed on that since Kraft recounted WBUR Maybe Josh Kraft can afford to ignore Donald Trump and his attacks on Boston as a distraction but the rest of us will never have that privilege Wu commented in response This is our city and being mayor means defending it It means answering tough questions not calling us exasperating for asking them Wu believes that greater part Boston voters are virulently anti-Trump and will trust her over Kraft when it comes to defending the city against Trump s attacks When it comes time to debate Kraft Wu will ask selected tough questions Why haven t you been more vocal in criticizing Trump Why aren t you out there fighting We re in a fight for our lives Who are you loyal to Trump or the citizens of Boston And she will hang that super PAC around his neck from now until November Now the White House is even getting involved in attacking Wu over ICE arrests which the mayor relishes because it further positions her as the number one Trump antagonist Kraft cannot compete against that Related Articles Boston Mayor Wu blasted by feds for comparing masked ICE agents to neo-Nazi group Boston facing B budgetary shortfall from empty office buildings Statement Battenfeld Michelle Wu has her own secret police predicament Maura Healey delivers millions to boost downtown Boston housing revival Boston City Council passes Michelle Wu s billion budget with M in amendments Wu and Kraft Herald file