Republican President Donald Trump spoke on the telephone with unbiased mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo just lately in regards to the New York Metropolis mayor’s race, a Wednesday New York Occasions report revealed. The previous governor’s marketing campaign has disputed the reporting.
Trump, who has so far stayed out of the crowded contest to exchange Mayor Eric Adams, spoke with the previous governor as he’s weighing whether or not to get entangled with the crowded mayoral normal election, in keeping with the Occasions, which cited three nameless sources. He additionally reportedly had conversations with a Republican Congress member, New York businessmen, and pollsters about who has one of the best shot at overcoming socialist Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani.
Whereas the pair publicly locked horns throughout Trump’s first time period, when Cuomo was nonetheless governor, the president mentioned final month that Cuomo “should stay” within the race and has a “good shot of winning.”
Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.Photograph by Lloyd Mitchell
However Wealthy Azzopardi, Cuomo’s marketing campaign spokesperson, disputed the report in a Wednesday assertion to New York News. He claimed that Cuomo and Trump “have not spoken in some time” and, to his data, “have not discussed the race.”
Azzopardi additional speculated that Trump may properly favor Mamdani to provide 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 alternate for towing the road 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 mentioned. “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.
Mamdani, in a press release, blasted Cuomo as having spent his profession “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 mentioned. “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 Occasions, citing eight nameless sources, reported that Trump was just lately briefed on polling exhibiting Cuomo, who misplaced the June Democratic main to Mamdani by a large margin, has one of the best likelihood of defeating the frontrunner. Trump was reportedly proven the survey knowledge by pollster Mark Penn and former Metropolis Council President Andrew Stein, each of whom boosted Cuomo in a latest Wall Avenue Journal op-ed.
Cuomo, who was extensively seen because the frontrunner for a lot of the first, has constantly been polling second to Mamdani — although he typically trails the Democratic nominee by roughly 10 factors. Most frequently, Sliwa, Adams — who can be working as an unbiased after sitting out the Democratic main, and unbiased lawyer Jim Walden come behind Cuomo in that order.
Trump has additionally had a rosy relationship with Adams over the previous yr, even calling him a “very good person” final month. However Adams has been lagging within the polls and their bond could also be fraying, provided that Trump’s Justice Division sued town and Hizzoner to attempt to overturn town’s sancturay legal guidelines final month.
