Andrew Cuomo has Zohran Mamdani on the mind — and Mayor Eric Adams on mute.
The former governor joined dozens of other politicians for the city’s Labor Day march Saturday afternoon, less than a day after the mayor laced into Cuomo, calling him a “snake and a liar” and insisting he would stay in the mayoral race. The Friday announcement was designed to squelch weeks of speculation that Adams and President Donald Trump were cutting a deal for him to withdraw.
Cuomo on Saturday suggested that Adams staying in the race was a Republican plot to allow Trump to take over New York City, calling Mamdani, ”President Trump’s dream candidate.”
But he declined to respond to Adams’ attacks. The mayor, speaking from the garden of Gracie Mansion Friday, directed his ire more at Cuomo than Mamdani, who is well ahead in recent polls.
“Andrew has a career of pushing Black candidates out of races,” Adams said Friday. “That must stop with me.”
Cuomo, who resigned as governor in 2021 after more than a dozen women accused him of sexual harassment, declined to address Adams’ specific attacks when asked Saturday.
“ I stopped listening to Mayor Adams a long time ago and so did New York City,” he said when questioned.
Cuomo, who is running as an independent after losing the Democratic primary by 12 points, focused his attacks on Mamdani. He called the Democratic nominee a “terrorist sympathizer,” “ anti-police” and ”President Trump’s dream candidate.”
The Mamdani campaign said if Trump has a preferred candidate it’s the former governor.
“Andrew Cuomo is Donald Trump’s takeover,” said Mamdani campaign spokesperson Dora Pekec, in a text. “Trump himself has made his support for Cuomo crystal clear — precisely because he knows while Zohran will stand up for New York City, Cuomo would simply submit.”
The exchange follows weeks of reports that Adams was in talks to take a job in the Trump administration. Trump has said publicly he’d prefer a head-to-head matchup as it would be more difficult for Mamdani to win.
Cuomo has denied being in talks with the president, but Politico New York obtained audio last month of Cuomo telling donors “Trump himself, as well as top Republicans, will say the goal is to stop Mamdani. And you’ll be wasting your vote on Sliwa. So I feel good about that.”
Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa has also vowed to stay in the race, despite the rumored machinations.
Mamdani is expected to appear with Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont Saturday evening during a rally at Brooklyn College.
This story has been updated with a statement from the Mamdani campaign.
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