DC’s mayor and the punch-up with Donald Trump that put her on the world stage

Amid her spat with the president, Muriel Bowser has faced criticism from constituents about her own city’s police. But there is still chatter, writes Andrew Buncombe, she could even become Joe Biden’s running mate

Muriel Bowser walks on the street leading to the White House (AP)

Back in 2013 when she was first running for mayor of Washington DC, Muriel Bowser gave an interview to the Washington City Paper. The idea was for the reporter from the alternative weekly to take a tour of Ward 4, which she represented on the city council, to provide both colour and insight. The first outing fell flat; Bowser’s campaign manager was so concerned she had come across as too stiff, he requested a second, more “open” interview.

During both interviews, the reporter noted, members of the public came up to her to offer praise. The reporter joked she must have paid them.

There is no suggestion Bowser actually staged those encounters – they were merely good fortune. But seven years later, in her second term as mayor, she finds herself once again seeing an opportunity, whose timing and trajectory she could never have predicted, and seizing the momentum.