De Blasio promises equal pay for female athletes if he becomes president

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said he would ensure female US national team athletes received the same pay as male athletes if he's elected president, even if he has to use an executive order, according to the New York Post.

It's not quite on the level of Joe Biden promising to cure cancer, but he's trying.

And although it sounds nice for the 2020 Democratic candidate to jump on the hot issue of the week as an advocate for equal pay, De Blasio doesn't even pay his own female employees equally. From the Post:

Although women make up half of City Hall's 10 highest earners, the men — including de Blasio — hold four of the five best-paying jobs, with annual salaries that range from $258,000 to $403,000, records show.

Because of that, men in the administration earn an average of $58,400 a year more than their female colleagues, leaving the women earning just 81 cents for every dollar earned by the men.

"The numbers are so clear, we have an administration that's over 50 percent women in the top positions, absolute equity in the top positions, there's a handful of higher-paid positions, at this moment in history some are men and some are women," said de Blasio, in an attempt to defend his administration's salaries.

New York City emergency services workers were not pleased with de Blasio's focus on women's national team pay when there is pay inequality in his own city.

"While Mayor de Blasio uses this victory parade to grab attention for his presidential run and advocate against pay inequality, the first responders of FDNY EMS are victims of that same inequity," a union statement read.

The U.S. women's national soccer team recently won the World Cup, but the players' salaries have been nearly as much of a story as their victories.

The team members sued the United States Soccer Federation in March, alleging pay discrimination. The two sides have agreed to attempt to resolve the dispute out of court through mediation. Fans chanted "equal pay" after the team won the World Cup.