Republican President Donald Trump spoke on the phone with independent mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo recently about the New York City mayor’s race, a Wednesday New York Times report revealed. The former governor’s campaign has disputed the reporting.
Trump, who has thus far stayed out of the crowded contest to replace Mayor Eric Adams, spoke with the former governor as he is weighing whether to get involved with the crowded mayoral general election, according to the Times, which cited three anonymous sources. He also reportedly had conversations with a Republican Congress member, New York businessmen, and pollsters about who has the best shot at overcoming socialist Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani.
While the pair publicly locked horns during Trump’s first term, when Cuomo was still governor, the president said last month that Cuomo “should stay” in the race and has a “good shot of winning.”
But Rich Azzopardi, Cuomo’s campaign spokesperson, disputed the report in a Wednesday statement to amNewYork. He claimed that Cuomo and Trump “have not spoken in some time” and, to his knowledge, “have not discussed the race.”
Azzopardi further speculated that Trump might well prefer Mamdani to give Republicans a bogeyman to scare voters; or the incumbent mayor, Eric Adams, “who is a wholly owned subsidiary” of Trump. He was referencing the alleged quid-pro-quo between Adams and Trump to have the mayor’s now-dismissed federal bribery case tossed in exchange for towing the line on the president’s immigration agenda.
“Regarding his reported interest, it seems clear that President Trump would either prefer Mr. Mamdani, whom he refers to as a ‘commie,’ because he believes Mamdani would serve as a political boon to Republicans nationwide in the midterms, symbolizing what he sees as the Democratic Party’s extremism. Alternatively, he may favor Eric Adams, who is a wholly owned subsidiary of the President,” Azzopardi said. “And there is already a Republican in the race, who is the nominee of President Trump’s party.”
The Republican Azzopardi referred to is Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa.
Trump later told reporters “I haven’t” spoken to Cuomo.
Mamdani, in a statement, blasted Cuomo as having spent his career “governing for the powerful and prioritizing his own self-interests over those of the people he was sworn to serve.”
“This is not just a shady backroom deal by a cynical politician, it is disqualifying. It is a betrayal,” Mamdani said. “Donald Trump is sending masked agents to rip our neighbors off the street, gutting the social services so many New Yorkers rely on, and threatening to deport me for having the audacity to stand up to him and his billionaire friends. The job of New York City mayor is not to be a jester for a wannabe king, it is to protect the people of this city.”
The New York Times, citing eight anonymous sources, reported that Trump was recently briefed on polling showing Cuomo, who lost the June Democratic primary to Mamdani by a wide margin, has the best chance of defeating the frontrunner. Trump was reportedly shown the survey data by pollster Mark Penn and former City Council President Andrew Stein, both of whom boosted Cuomo in a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed.
Cuomo, who was widely seen as the frontrunner for much of the primary, has consistently been polling second to Mamdani — though he often trails the Democratic nominee by roughly 10 points. Most often, Sliwa, Adams — who is also running as an independent after sitting out the Democratic primary, and independent lawyer Jim Walden come behind Cuomo in that order.
Trump has also had a rosy relationship with Adams over the past year, even calling him a “very good person” last month. But Adams has been lagging in the polls and their bond may be fraying, given that Trump’s Justice Department sued the city and Hizzoner to try and overturn the city’s sancturay laws last month.
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