Cuomo campaign denies bombshell report about Trump's influence in the NYC mayoral race
Politico's New York Playbook reported that Cuomo is "counting on" Trump to urge Republicans to vote for the former governor instead of the Republican nominee, Curtis Sliwa, in this November's mayoral election.
According to audio obtained by the outlet, Cuomo told a Hamptons crowd on Saturday that Sliwa isn't a "serious candidate" and Trump himself would say, "you'll be wasting your vote on Sliwa."
When reached for comment regarding the report, Cuomo's senior advisor, Rich Azzopardi, explained that Cuomo was responding to "what he heard to be a hypothetical about how it could become a two-person race and was speculating."
Trump Says Cuomo's Got A 'Good Shot' Of Beating Mamdani In Nyc Mayor Election
Cuomo is New York City's "only chance" of defeating the Democratic mayoral nominee, Zohran Mamdani, the Cuomo campaign doubled down on Tuesday.
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Cuomo Tones Down Trump Rhetoric After Stunning Loss To Mamdani In Nyc Mayor Primary
Meanwhile, Sliwa has distanced himself from the president, maintaining that it wouldn't be helpful for Trump to intervene in New York City's mayoral race, after The New York Times' report that Trump has been speaking with Cuomo and his associates about how to defeat Mamdani in November.
Trump and Cuomo have both denied the phone call ever happened, and the former governor said he wouldn't accept a Trump endorsement.
The Republican nominee told Fox News Digital on Tuesday morning that Cuomo's campaign is "a mess," and said, "desperate people do desperate things."
"It's just sad that Andrew Cuomo thinks a Trump headline will save him," Sliwa said in a statement.
And Sliwa trolled Cuomo, arguing that "if he actually left the Hamptons," he would see the impact of his policies on New Yorkers," tying crime to his "disastrous no-bail law" and his controversial COVID-19 policies.
Speaking to reporters at a campaign event in Manhattan on Monday, Cuomo confirmed that he attended the fundraiser at media mogul Jimmy Finkelstein's home in Southampton on Saturday.
But Cuomo denied that during the fundraiser, he discussed Trump with former NYC City Council President Andrew Stein, who co-hosted the event in the Hamptons.
"Let's put it this way: I knew the president very well," Cuomo said in the Hamptons, according to Politico, before adding, "I believe there will be opportunities to actually cooperate with him. I also believe that he's not going to want to fight with me in New York if he can avoid it."
The comments followed Mamdani's week-long anti-Trump tour across New York City's five boroughs. Day by day, the self-described Democratic socialist spotlighted how Trump's sweeping second-term agenda is impacting New Yorkers, as he worked to tie Cuomo to Trump.
The Mamdani campaign seized on the latest reporting, releasing a statement on Tuesday morning arguing that "Andrew Cuomo has been caught red-handed."
"Since he's too afraid to say it to New Yorkers' faces, we'll make it clear: Andrew Cuomo is Donald Trump's choice for mayor," Mamdani campaign spokeswoman Dora Pekec said.
Cuomo's campaign was quick to respond, calling it "silly."
"Mamdani is clearly trying to deflect from answering questions" about his own record, including his support for decriminalizing prostitution, for which Cuomo held a press conference criticizing on Monday.
Mamdani has said he would be Trump's "worst nightmare" if elected in November. Trump has repeatedly criticized Mamdani, calling him a "100% Communist Lunatic."
The White House has dismissed the idea that Trump is planning to get involved in the race.
"As President Trump has repeatedly stated, he has no intention of getting involved or making an endorsement in the New York City mayoral race," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Digital in a statement.
Cuomo lost the Democratic primary to Mamdani in June but decided to stay in the race as an independent candidate.
In the closing weeks ahead of New York City's Democratic Party mayoral primary, as he appeared to be cruising toward capturing his party's nomination, Cuomo focused his campaign's spotlight on Trump.
"Trump's coming for New York. Who do you think can stop him?" the narrator in a Cuomo campaign ad said over images of the June rioting in Los Angeles sparked by Trump's immigration crackdown.
"Trump's at the city gates. We need someone experienced to slam them shut," the narrator said, as he suggested that Cuomo was the most experienced candidate to push back against the president's agenda.
Cuomo pledged, if elected mayor, to protect New York City from what he suggested could be a possible future federal crackdown against immigration protests in the city. And he vowed to mount a national campaign to try and thwart Trump's agenda.
Mamdani's stunning victory over Cuomo and nine other candidates last month to capture the Democratic Party nomination rocked the race for mayor in the nation's most populous city.
And as Cuomo resets as he runs in the mayoral general election as an independent candidate, references to Trump have plummeted.
Adams is also running as an independent candidate. Particularly on immigration, the incumbent mayor has developed a relationship with Trump.
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"I helped him out a little bit," Trump admitted last month, referencing his Justice Department dropping corruption charges against the mayor earlier this year.
Fox News Digital's Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report. Original article source: Cuomo campaign denies bombshell report about Trump's influence in the NYC mayoral race
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