At a marketing campaign occasion Wednesday, Cuomo pitched himself as probably the most skilled candidate who’s prepared to tackle Trump.
Picture by Shea Vance
Mayoral hopeful Andrew Cuomo, who served as New York’s 56th governor beginning in 2011 till his resignation in 2021 over allegations of sexual harassment, is getting into the ultimate stretch of the Democratic major race to Gracie Mansion with one final pitch to voters: An argument that within the Trump period, New York can’t afford to take an opportunity on 33-year-old Zohran Mamdani.
At a marketing campaign occasion in Harlem on Wednesday morning — the place former Governor David Paterson and head of the Manhattan Democrats Keith Wright threw their assist behind Cuomo, becoming a member of different institution Democrats of their endorsement of the formerly-disgraced-former-governor — Cuomo stated that President Donald Trump has “declared war” on New York Metropolis. And, that he’s the one candidate ready to combat again.
All through the size of the first race, Cuomo has touted his achievements as governor, together with the reconstruction of LaGuardia Airport, the development of Moynihan Practice Corridor, and the completion of the Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge — named after the 52nd governor of New York and Cuomo’s father. Although loads of political opponents have accused him of benefiting from political nepotism all through the years, Cuomo has used his upbringing in New York politics as proof that he’s as ready for Metropolis Corridor as one may be.
Cuomo famous at Wednesday’s occasion that he, Paterson, and Wright grew up with fathers in New York politics, all of whom taught their sons the craft of governing. For the present Democratic frontrunner by most estimates, being a beneficiary of the Cuomo Democratic political dynasty at a time of overwhelming upheaval coming from the USA’ proper wing is a critical benefit.
“They taught us that respect, that politics, government, is not just something you pick up,” Cuomo stated. “It’s an art form, you have to learn it, you have to practice it. It’s something that you have to really immerse yourself in for years. And that’s what the three of us did by their example.”
Cuomo argued that he has turn into an knowledgeable within the artwork of politics, making ready him for the function of mayor. In comparison with bridges and airports, the duty of accelerating town’s inexpensive housing — a cornerstone subject within the 2025 marketing campaign — is nothing, Cuomo stated.
Cuomo then made a dig at his much less politically-experienced opponents within the major race. Mamdani, who’s Cuomo’s predominant competitors and who pulled forward in a ballot launched Wednesday evening, is 33 and would convey to Metropolis Corridor 4 years of expertise within the New York State Meeting.
“You now have people looking at politics and they say, ‘Well I can be governor, I can be an assemblyman, I can be this.’ Yeah, the old expression: You don’t know what you don’t know,” Cuomo stated. “It always looks easy when you don’t know what it is you’re talking about. There is nothing easy about governing New York City. There’s nothing easy about governing New York State, I promise you that. Experience matters, and knowledge matters.”
Cuomo’s marketing campaign and the candidate himself have hit Mamdani over his degree of political expertise quite a few instances. Mamdani’s has been to counter that whereas he lacks Cuomo’s expertise in Albany, he additionally lacks his baggage — notably allegations of sexual harassment that drove him out of Albany in 2021 and accusations that his dealing with of the COVID-19 pandemic led to 1000’s of deaths in New York nursing properties.
To Cuomo, the election of a less-experienced politician to town’s highest workplace shouldn’t be solely silly, it’s harmful. New York Metropolis, Cuomo stated, “is in trouble,” in no small half resulting from Trump’s concentrating on of immigrants and authorities applications offering heavy help to New York Metropolis. With Trump’s deployment this week of 4,000 members of the Nationwide Guard and 700 energetic obligation marines to quell protests and help Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, Cuomo predicts that Trump desires to do the identical in New York.
Although Mayor Eric Adams stated earlier this week that he doesn’t “forsee” Trump sending federal troops to New York to dispel town’s ongoing protests, each Cuomo and Mamdani launched plans for a way they might cope with the scenario as mayor if Trump tried the identical within the Massive Apple. At Wednesday’s occasion, Cuomo famous his prior expertise coping with Trump as proof that he’s the very best candidate to face as much as the president. He recounted a telephone name he had with Trump in 2020 when the president was deploying federal troops to cities throughout the nation amid protests over the police killing of George Floyd.
“I said, ‘Listen, you may play that game in Chicago, in Cleveland, in St. Louis, but that’s not going to play here in New York. We don’t need your federal troops here in New York … we are totally capable of taking care of our own backyard,’” Cuomo stated. “And you know what he did? He backed off. You know why? He wants no piece of New York.”
A much less skilled chief for town, Cuomo argued, wouldn’t know easy methods to deal with Trump’s strongman techniques.
Chatting with reporters after the occasion, Cuomo denied any wrongdoing associated to his sexual harassment allegations and made an analogy to the career of journalism as an example his level concerning the necessity of expertise.
“There’s an art form, there’s a science to it. Same way with government, you have to understand what you’re doing,” Cuomo stated. “We’ve spent our lifetime learning how different facets of the government work.”
On Thursday, two days earlier than the beginning of early voting within the mayoral major, Cuomo’s marketing campaign launched a tv advert virtually fully centered round Mamdani’s inexperience and the menace posed to town by Trump. Although Cuomo continuously avoids utilizing Mamdani’s title on the marketing campaign path, even when making clear reference to the assemblymember, the advert refers to Mamdani immediately as a “33-year-old dangerously inexperienced legislator.”
