With the New York mayoral election approaching, Cuomo cannot relent on Trump now
As the race for mayor of New York City draws to a close, a shrinking pool of undecided voters is shaped by moral confrontation and identity politics. It’s the terrain where Zahran Mamdani, the Democratic primary winner who came from nowhere, excels. And this is where Andrew Cuomo, the former Democratic governor turned independent candidate, risks appearing weak when he is seen as “soft” on that city’s bogeyman, President Trump.
Mamdani has made opposition to Trump a major theme of his campaign. Cuomo didn’t do that. Although Cuomo has broadly opposed the president in the past, he avoided making that opposition a specific message this time. It’s an odd strategy, especially given Cuomo’s strong anti-Trump record as governor, and with voters likely saying the next mayor should take a strong stance against the president on immigration, threats to withhold federal funding, and more.
In fact, Cuomo described himself as “the last person” Trump would want as mayor — but not because of who he is. Rather, his reasoning is that a Mamdani administration would make Democrats look very bad and would be a “gift” to Trump. He insists that Trump plays no role in his campaign. When asked about a secret phone call with Trump, Cuomo claimed they did not discuss the mayoral race.
At a mayor’s forum held by Crain’s magazine last week, Mamdani called out Trump twice — both times to rally the room against the president’s threats to cut off federal aid to the city. He told the business audience that the next mayor’s first job would be to “investigate the legality” of any Trump ordinance and then “fight.” In contrast, Cuomo mentioned Trump only once, and only in passing while referring to the pandemic.
Soon after, Cuomo missed a key opportunity to show force when New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) was charged with fraud and false statements by Trump’s own hand-picked prosecutor. On the other hand, Mamdani joined other Democrats in lower Manhattan to protest. Cuomo issued a statement warning against the use of the justice system as a weapon “whether it comes from the right or the left,” without naming James or Trump. This is a far cry from Cuomo, who told Trump in 2020: “We don’t have a king,” or who threatened to sue Washington over its threats to withhold funding.
Of course, the fact that James aggressively investigated sexual harassment allegations against Cuomo while he was governor may have played a role.
Although Mamdani lacked Cuomo’s anti-Trump record as governor, he made up for it with rhetoric that energized New York’s liberals. Last week, Trump said on Truth Social that a Mamdani win would end federal aid to New York. “He needs money from me, as president, in order to fulfill all his false communist promises,” he said. “And he won’t get any.”
Mamdani wasted no time in responding. “What this city deserves is someone who will fight for it,” he said, describing Trump as a president who “looks at this city as something that should be punished for every day.” He took advantage of Cuomo’s lack of clarity about Trump. “Donald Trump is paving the way for Andrew Cuomo, because Donald Trump knows that Cuomo will pave the way for Trump’s agenda,” he added on CNN.
Speaking to The New Yorker, Mamdani said: “And I think we’ve seen in his first term and his second term that what Donald Trump respects most of the time is force. It’s not cowardice. It’s not cooperation as we’ve seen before.” [Mayor Eric Adams]Or coordination as we see from Cuomo. “He is someone who is willing to stand up and fight back.”
Earlier this year, when reports emerged that Trump had encouraged Adams to drop out, Mamdani was quick to accuse Andrew Cuomo of being, “as has long been suspected,” Trump’s preferred candidate. When it was later reported that Trump might support Cuomo, Mamdani declared during a five-state tour that his administration would be “Trump’s worst nightmare.” “How else would you describe a president who proposed stripping the citizenship of a Democratic nominee for New York City?” he asked.
His campaign says internal polls show that Trump’s accusation of being an abuser resonates with voters in New York, where Trump is largely offended, even if he is a son of the city.
There is still time for Cuomo to reconsider his approach; The elections are on November 4th. Polls show that most undecided voters say “strongness against Trump” is a deciding factor in their choice. On this question, Cuomo trails Mamdani, but by only one point, perhaps because many New Yorkers remember his record as governor.
He better harness anti-Trump energy or give voters a compelling reason to believe he would be a wartime mayor. If he does not, any future he imagines in politics will be decided here. Whether we win or lose, this is the moment to remind distrustful, mobilized, and decisively anti-Trump voters of some of the better parts of who he was and what he can be.
William Liang is a writer living in San Francisco.
