Cuomo: Mamdani win would lead to Trump New York City takeover
Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), an independent candidate for mayor in New York City, said on Monday that President Trump wants Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani to win the general election in November so he has an excuse to take over the city.
In an interview on ABC’s “The View,” Cuomo pushed back on the claim that Trump would benefit from a Cuomo victory, saying a Mamdani win would help Trump galvanize support ahead of the midterms and would give him the excuse he needs to take over another Democratic-run city.
“He wants Mamdani. Two reasons,” Cuomo said. “One, going into the midterms, he will take a picture of Mamdani, run around the country and say, ‘Here’s what happened to the Democrats. They are now communists. They hate the police. They legalize prostitution, legalize drugs. They want to elect this Democrat, no experience whatsoever, being mayor of New York would be his first real job.’”
“Second move, it’s good for Donald Trump,” Cuomo continued, “because it’s the excuse he needs to take over New York, which he said he will do.”
Trump has mused about sending in federal troops to other Democratic-run cities in the country, including New York.
He also recently said a victory for Mamdani, the leading candidate in the race, would be “one of the best things to ever happen to our great Republican Party” and threatened to pull funding for the city if the democratic socialist is elected.
“He is going to have problems with Washington like no Mayor in the history of our once great city,” Trump wrote on Truth Social late last month, referring to Mamdani.
“Remember, he needs the money from me, as President, in order to fulfill all of his fake communist promises. He won’t be getting any of it, so what’s the point of voting for him?”
Mamdani shot back, saying Trump is “going through the many stages of grief” as the president comes to terms with the possibility that a democratic socialist might be elected as his hometown mayor.
“First, it’s denial that this could ever take place. Now it’s acceptance, and still, through it all, he is looking to use every tool at his disposal to help Andrew Cuomo become the next mayor of this city.”