A case of mistaken identity came to a head last night when former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio sat down with Long Island wine importer Bill DeBlasio for an interview on CNN.

The two Bills appeared on “Erin Burnett OutFront,” meeting face to face for the first time since the British newspaper was forced to retract an article in which the former mayor was reported to have backtracked on his endorsement of NYC mayoral front-runner Zohran Mamdani. Both men appeared in good spirits despite the uproar caused by the article.

“First of all, I’m upset that this guy’s better looking than me,” the former mayor said. “Like this is a problem for me, okay?”

He also agreed with Mr. DeBlasio of Huntington Station, who said earlier in the segment that he was surprised that the Times reporter did not use due diligence in finding out if he had spoken to the correct person.

“I agree with the other Bill. How did no one check,” he said. “If suddenly I changed my mind, someone would say, ‘Why did you change your mind?’”

The other Bill explained how he was contacted via email by reporter Bevan Hurley and how being mistaken for the mayor was not a new experience for him. While he usually ignores the messages, he receives from people who believe they have contacted that mayor, he decided to “have a little fun with it.” Before hitting the reply button, Mr. DeBlasio posted the email from Mr. Hurley on Facebook and asked his friends if he should respond.

“And I said to all my friends, ‘Should I answer this,’ and they’re like, ‘Heck yeah, you have to answer that,’” he said. “So, I answered it and I never thought it would get to that level.”

“I thought somebody was going to fact check it somewhere along the line and call me out.”

He then drafted a response along with a friend and they ran it through ChatGPT before sending it back to the Times reporter. He says he was caught by surprise when Mr. Hurley followed up.

“So I never thought anything of it, and then he answered and he said, ‘Is it okay if I use paragraphs two and three of your email,’” the wine importer said.

The two Bills also found some common ground during the interview. Mr. DeBlasio said that most of the misdirected emails he’s received over the years were “absolutely brutal.”

“Absolutely mean, nasty, angry people,” he said. “I actually feel sorry for the mayor, you know, it’s just, it’s just people are just horrible. And they tell me they wish I’d die, I’m the worst mayor ever.”

Mr. de Blasio thanked him for his words.

“Thank you for saying, because unfortunately this is true with public servants all over the country trying to do their job and just this wave of hate that’s been true in recent years especially, but we got to get rid of it,” he said.

“Brutal,” the other Bill responded.

As the interview ended Ms. Burnett said that she had hoped that the segment was hopefully heartwarming from viewers but also highlighted the importance of the exchange between the two men.

“Two people who don’t necessarily agree with each other politically, that you can have that sort of empathy and have that connection, even amidst this and if that comes out of this, that’s a good thing.”

Mr. de Blasio quickly chimed in as they signed off, saying that he wanted to sample some of Mr. DeBlasio’s wines.

“Absolutely,” the other Bill said.

“You got his email,” Ms. Burnett quipped to the former mayor.