Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s campaign in the New York City mayoral race tried to swat down front-runner Zohran Mamdani’s criticism that President Trump had endorsed Mr. Cuomo.
During the Sunday night broadcast on CBS’ “60 Minutes,” Mr. Trump, who has deep ties to the Big Apple, reiterated his position on the race, in which Mr. Mamdani, a self-declared socialist, leads Mr. Cuomo by double digits heading into Tuesday’s election.
“I’m not a fan of Cuomo one way or the other, but if it’s going to be between a bad Democrat and a communist, I’m gonna pick the bad Democrat all the time,” Mr. Trump said.
The Mamdani campaign sent out an email Monday morning declaring that “Trump’s long, drawn-out endorsement is finally official” while pointing to Mr. Trump’s previous statements indicating a preference for Mr. Cuomo over Mr. Mamdani.
Rich Azzopardi, a spokesman for the Cuomo campaign, disputed characterizations that the remark from Mr. Trump was an “endorsement.”
“Once again, Mamdani is lying and gaslighting his way through this election,” Mr. Azzopardi said.
“Only one candidate has a record of standing up to Trump when he tried to hurt New York and winning, and that’s Andrew Cuomo,” he added. “We know Mamdani would rather lie about this than answer any questions about his dangerous inexperience, his anti-public safety platform or even how he’s voting in on those housing ballot questions.”
Mr. Trump and Mr. Cuomo had a notoriously contentious relationship while both were in power during the COVID-19 pandemic, but they have also touted their mutual respect and cooperation from time to time.
By contrast, Mr. Trump had very little to say about Mr. Mamdani that was positive.
“He’s far worse than a socialist,” Mr. Trump said, clarifying that he considered Mr. Mamdani a communist.
Polls show Mr. Mamdani with a roughly 15-point lead over Mr. Cuomo, with Republican Curtis Sliwa in third place.
