(The Center Square) — New York Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mandani has launched a new line of attack against former Gov. Andrew Cuomo by trying to tie him to Republican President Donald Trump, who remains deeply unpopular in the city.
Mamdani kicked off a “Five Boroughs Against Trump” tour this week aimed at highlighting the “devastating impacts” of the Trump administration on New York City and claiming that Cuomo would have the president’s back, if elected.
The 33-year-old Queens assemblyman and democratic socialist said there are “too many parallels” between Trump and Cuomo in their leadership. He said both have overseen administrations “characterized by corruption” and a “sense of impunity” and “a prioritization of the interests of billionaires over working people as an agenda that is driven by little else beyond the retention and accumulation of power.”
“As New Yorkers, we know a fraud when we see one,” Mamdani said in a statement. “If we want to save our democracy, we will do so, not only by taking on the authoritarianism coming from Washington D.C., but also by showcasing the ability of democracy to meet the needs of working class New Yorkers.”
Democratic Congressman Jerry Nadler, a top New York Democrat who has endorsed Mamdani, said news reports that Cuomo reached out to Trump to advise on the mayoral race shows that the former governor is “willing to legitimize the city’s great threat” for his personal benefit.
“The truth is, Cuomo and Trump are very similar, both use their power to serve themselves and the wealthy donors, not the people,” Nadler, who served as Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee during the Trump impeachment proceedings. “If it weren’t clear before it should be now, Donald Trump is no friend to our city and neither is Andrew Cuomo.”
Mamdani, who beat Cuomo in the June Democratic primary, has sought to tie the former governor to Trump in recent weeks as the race has tightened. The latest polls show Mamdani with a lead over Cuomo and Incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, who is running as an independent after dropping out of the Democratic primary. He faced federal bribery and corruption charges, which were dropped.
Curtis Sliwa, the Republican nominee and Guardian Angels founder, and lawyer and independent candidate Jim Walden will also appear on the Nov. 4 ballot.
Cuomo campaign spokesman Rich Azzopardi dismissed Mamdani’s anti-Trump campaign and said the former governor has the “longest and strongest” record of taking on Trump and the federal government.
“Andrew Cuomo is the candidate with the longest and strongest record of standing up to Trump and protecting New Yorkers,” Azzopardi posted on social media. “Trump and GOP want Mamdani to win to be their national boogeyman and because they know he’ll send his super social workers to stop Trump’s troops at city limits.”
