Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo told a crowd at a fundraiser over the weekend President Donald Trump will help him beat his rival Zohran Mamdani in the race for New York City mayor.
Cuomo is running as an independent after Mandani, a democratic socialist, beat him and others in the Democratic primary in June. Mamdani is currently leading in the polls against Cuomo, incumbent Eric Adams and Republican Curtis Sliwa.
A poll conducted by Gotham Polling & Analytics for AARP, a nonprofit dedicated to helping older Americans, on August 11 found Mamdani with 41.8 percent of the vote, followed by Cuomo with 23.4 percent, Sliwa with 16.5 percent and Adams with 8.8 percent. Adams is also running as an independent.
At a Saturday fundraiser in the Hamptons on nearby Long Island, Cuomo told the crowd, “We can minimize [the Sliwa] vote, because he’ll never be a serious candidate,” Politico reported, citing audio from the event.
“And Trump himself, as well as top Republicans, will say the goal is to stop Mamdani. And you’ll be wasting your vote on Sliwa. So I feel good about that,” Cuomo said.
Earlier this month, The New York Times reported Trump took a call with Cuomo as he considers intervening in the competitive race.
Trump had previously threatened to arrest Mamdani if he won the election and then followed through on his promise to defy Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in New York City. Mamdani has also picked fights with the president, launching a “five boroughs against Trump” tour to bring attention to the White House’s agenda and tie his opponents to Trump.
But the president and Cuomo would still be an unlikely alliance given their past criticisms of each other.
Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi previously denied the NYT’s reporting, telling The Independent, “The Governor and the President have not spoken in some time. As far as I know, they have not discussed the race.”
He also suggested Trump would be more interested in Mamdani or the other candidates in the race. Additionally, the president told reporters after the NYT article was published he had not spoken with Cuomo.
Azzopardi called Politico’s reporting, “silly,” telling The Independent Tuesday, “The governor was asked what he heard to be a hypothetical about how it could become a two person race and was speculating. We’re not asking for or expecting help from anyone — he also said the mayor would have to drop out and the mayor said he wasn’t going to.”
“Governor Cuomo is the only chance to beat Mamdani and ensure the greatest city in the world stays the greatest city in the world,” the spokesman said.
Dora Pekec, a spokesperson for Mamdani, accused Cuomo of planning “to rig the election,” Politico reported.
“Since he’s too afraid to say it to New Yorkers’ faces, we’ll make it clear: Andrew Cuomo IS Donald Trump’s choice for mayor,” she said.
Maria Sliwa, the media director for Sliwa’s campaign, told The Independent Tuesday, "It’s just sad that Andrew Cuomo thinks a Trump headline will save him.
“If he actually left the Hamptons, he’d see that New Yorkers regret everything he stands for, from being the architect of crime with his disastrous no-bail law to his failed COVID policies that devastated families. His campaign is a mess, and desperate people do desperate things,” she said.
Trump has yet to publicly endorse any mayoral candidate and Cuomo previously said he wouldn’t accept an endorsement from the president.
The Independent has reached out to Mamdani’s campaign and the White House for comment.
