New York City Republican mayoral nominee Curtis Sliwa said that President Trump’s interference in the New York election could embolden Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani.
“In this situation, it doesn’t help if he intervenes in New York City,” Sliwa told Fox 5’s Morgan McKay on “Politics Unusual” on Friday.
“Every day it’s Trump versus Zohran Mamdani, it’s a good day for Zohran Mamdani. Every day that Cuomo and Adams talks about you, ‘you drop out, you job out,’ it’s a good day for Zohran Mamdani,” he continued.
The New York City race for mayor has sparked heavy tensions. Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee, surprisingly won the Democratic primary against former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Cuomo is now running as an independent alongside the current mayor, Eric Adams.
Trump has been adamantly opposed to Mamdani’s campaign for mayor. He has called him a “communist lunatic” and said that if he is elected in November, “He better behave. Otherwise, he will have big problems.”
The New York Times reported on Wednesday that Trump had multiple phone calls with Cuomo and was considering “getting involved” in the mayoral race.
Sliwa, who is the only Republican candidate and in an underdog position, said he was not surprised that the president called Cuomo, as “Cuomo’s been talking to Trump for years.”
He added, “I would just say to the president, spend your time where it’s needed more, on geopolitical interests that affect all Americans. This election in New York City does not affect all Americans.”
Other candidates also raged against Trump’s move. Mamdani posted on the social platform X, “Today we learned Andrew Cuomo is directly coordinating with Donald Trump, even as this President sends masked agents to rip our neighbors off the streets and guts the social services so many New Yorkers rely on.”
“It’s disqualifying and a betrayal of our city,” he added.
But Cuomo on Thursday pushed back on the report.
“I can’t remember the last time I spoke to President Trump,” Cuomo said during a press conference, adding that he has “never spoken to him about the mayor’s race.”
Sliwa has previously attacked Mamdani and blamed Adams’s mayoral term for Mamdani’s win in the Democratic primary.
“There is no Zohran Mamdani if Eric Adams had done a decent job,” Sliwa said.
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