Rev. Al Sharpton called on Andrew Cuomo to drop out of the race for New York City mayor Wednesday — saying he urged the ex-governor to do what’s best for the Big Apple.
The longtime civil rights leader told The Post “now isn’t the time” for Cuomo to continue an independent campaign for City Hall after a stinging defeat in the Democratic primary against far-left darling Zohran Mamdani.
“I don’t want Cuomo to risk coming in third in the race,” Sharpton said in reference to the general election. “He has a role to play in public life. He is a very gifted politician. Now isn’t his time.”
He said Cuomo should jump ship and give Mayor Eric Adams a chance to retain power as he mounts an independent bid with the longshot hope of attracting a mix of moderate Dem and GOP voters to give him the edge.
“Let’s see Mamdani and Adams duke it out,” said Sharpton, who stressed he isn’t endorsing anyone yet.
While Cuomo’s exit from the race would thin out the field, it wouldn’t set up a one-on-one matchup between Mamdani and Adams with GOP candidate Curtis Sliwa and another independent hopeful, attorney Jim Walden, also running to lead Gotham.
Sliwa, who ran against Adams and lost in 2021, has made clear he won’t drop out to help the incumbent.
The Guardian Angels founder stressed on the ‘New York’s Finest” podcast that a poll among Republican voters from earlier this year showed Adams only grabbing about 24% of support against Sliwa’s 72% in a hypothetical GOP primary between the two.
Sharpton, a kingmaker in city politics, first revealed his thoughts on Cuomo on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” earlier Wednesday.
“I think Andrew Cuomo should look at what’s best for the city and let them have a one-on-one race,” Sharpton said. “I think, in the best interest of the legacy of Andrew Cuomo, that he ought to let them have the one-on-one race.”
A rep for Cuomo said the campaign would “continue to assess the current situation in the best interest of the people of the City of New York.”
“Everyone is entitled to their own political opinion — we understand President Trump supports Eric Adams, and do not believe socialism is the answer,” said campaign spokesperson Rich Azzopardi. “Most New Yorkers are not Trumpers, and most New Yorkers are not socialists — the majority lies in the middle.”
Sharpton’s call comes just a day after the full primary results came in, showing Mamdani trounced Cuomo by 12 points in just three rounds of ranked-choice voting.
Sharpton hosted Mamdani at his National Action Network HQ last Saturday, giving the Democratic nominee a chance to make his pitch to black voters, and seemingly supporting some of the assemblyman’s campaign vows, such as freezing the rent.
While Sharpton said Adams, whom he spoke to on Friday, thinks he can take on Mamdani, the rev warned Hizzoner needs to distance himself from President Trump.
The Republican leader showered praise on Adams Tuesday, calling him a “very good person” and even brought up the scandal-scarred pol’s now-dismissed federal corruption case.
“I helped him out a little bit,” Trump said, alluding to the Department of Justice’s controversial move to end the prosecution of Adams. “He had a problem, and he was unfairly hurt over this question.”
Sharpton said on MSNBC that kind of talk can only hurt Adams at the polls.
“I think it couldn’t be worse for Eric Adams, for the president to say that he had trouble with an indictment and I helped him is for the president to say that he politically interfered with due process,” Sharpton said. “And for Eric Adams then to appear like he was only helped by a political deal is certainly helpful to Mamdani.
“I think that if Mamdani wanted anybody to help his campaign, he should want Donald Trump to talk every day in the terms that he talked to for Eric Adams because that is absolutely something that the voters will shun upon.”
Both the DOJ and Adams have long rejected the notion that there was a quid pro quo between the two sides.
