After months of reports concerning the ties between the 2 politicians, President Donald Trump posted an emphatic endorsement of former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo for New York Metropolis mayor, and once more threatened to restrict federal funds if State Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani gained.
“We should additionally bear in mind this — A vote for Curtis Sliwa (who appears to be like significantly better with out the beret!) is a vote for Mamdani,” Trump wrote in a Monday Truth Social post urging voters to bypass Sliwa, the Republican nominee. “Whether or not you personally like Andrew Cuomo or not, you actually don’t have any alternative. You should vote for him, and hope he does a implausible job. He’s able to it, Mamdani just isn’t!”
Trump’s endorsement comes after a New York Times report recommended that he and Cuomo had a cozier relationship and had held a name concerning the election, one thing each leaders denied. Beforehand, Cuomo had additionally openly mused about how Trump may assist sway Republican voters in his favor.
“Trump himself, in addition to high Republicans, will say the aim is to cease Mamdani. And also you’ll be losing your vote on Sliwa. So I be ok with that,” Cuomo mentioned at an August fundraiser, according to a Politico report.
Trump’s backing additionally follows frequent assaults he’s made in opposition to Mamdani, together with xenophobic statements about his id and repeated broadsides in opposition to his ideology as a Democratic socialist.
He has repeatedly and falsely labeled Mamdani as a “communist,” and recommended he could be arrested if he blocks Immigration and Customs Enforcement within the metropolis as mayor. Trump’s also amplified false claims that Mamdani, a naturalized citizen, is within the U.S. illegally.
On Monday, Trump echoed previous threats he’s made about proscribing federal funding to New York Metropolis beneath Mamdani’s potential management.
“If Communist Candidate Zohran Mamdani wins the Election for Mayor of New York Metropolis, it’s extremely unlikely that I will probably be contributing Federal Funds, aside from the very minimal as required, to my beloved first house, due to the truth that, as a Communist, this as soon as nice Metropolis has ZERO probability of success, and even survival!” Trump wrote.
“We are going to combat for each single greenback that the town at present receives from the federal authorities,” Mamdani previously said during a CNN interview, noting that the town is ready to file lawsuits contesting efforts to withhold federal funds.
Mamdani has lengthy pointed to Cuomo’s relationship with the president as a significant vulnerability and argued Cuomo will probably be “Trump’s puppet” if elected as mayor. Cuomo has responded by saying that he stood as much as Trump throughout the pandemic, and would achieve this once more.
“In these ultimate days, what was rumored, what was feared, has change into bare and unabashed,” Mamdani told reporters in response to Trump’s post. “The MAGA motion’s embrace of Andrew Cuomo is reflective of Donald Trump’s understanding that this may be the perfect mayor for him.”
