“The media attacks on Bill de Blasio make my support for him even stronger,” says Cheryl Thom-Bumpus, a coder for the past 26 years at Brooklyn’s Interfaith Hospital. “I campaigned for him in the primaries, and I’ll campaign for him in the general election.”

Thom-Bumpus was one of some 50 Interfaith members who took the day off to work for de Blasio on Primary Day, September 10. De Blasio captured more than the required 40 percent of the vote on that day to win the Democratic Party nomination for New York City mayor. The general election is on November 5.

Thom-Bumpus and other Interfaith members say the supporters of Republican mayoral nominee, Joseph Lotta are trying to divert attention from de Blasio’s progressive agenda to make him seem out of touch. “This is their way of saying that we are better off with someone like Mayor Bloomberg,” Thom-Bumpus says. “But we know better.”

Specifically Lotta and much of the mainstream media seized on a New York Times article that described a de Blasio solidarity trip to bring medical aid to Nicaragua in the 1970s after the overthrow of the U.S.-backed repressive government there.

De Blasio said of the attacks, “The bottom line is the values that I have put forward I think have been consistent over the last quarter-century or more. I believe in a more just society. I believe government has to be a tool for a more just society. And I think it’s that simple.”

The criticism of de Blasio came on the same day that President Barack Obama endorsed de Blasio, saying, “Bill’s platform of progressive change would make him a great mayor.” President Obama added, “Bill’s agenda for New York is marked by bold, courageous ideas that address the great challenges of our time.”

“I believe in Bill de Blasio,” says Idalis Oquendo, a patients account clerk at Interfaith for 29 years. “He has been there faithfully for Inerfaith patients, families and workers.”

“I’ll be out for de Blasio on Election Day,” adds Thom-Bumpus. “Right now I’m getting ready to go out for Tish James.” Councilwoman Letitia James is running in the October 1 runoff against State Senator Daniel Squadron for NYC Public Advocate.

Says Thom-Bumpus, “If we elect de Blasio and the other candidates we support, it would be a big victory for healthcare workers and patients in the city.”