Washington: US President Donald Trump has urged his followers to support independent Democrat Andrew Cuomo for mayor of New York City as the only viable candidate who can beat Democratic Socialist frontrunner Zohran Mamdani.
The explicit intervention the night before the election came after Trump repeatedly mused he would prefer a Democrat to a “communist”, as he calls Mamdani, a 34-year-old Muslim immigrant who is a near certainty to lead the country’s biggest city.
Zohran Mamdani campaigns in Harlem, New York, on Sunday.Credit: Bloomberg
Cuomo, a former governor of New York state who resigned amid sexual misconduct allegations that he denies, is running as an independent after losing the Democratic primary to Mamdani earlier this year. Also in the race is Republican talk show host and beret-wearing activist Curtis Sliwa, who polls show has no chance of winning.
Posting on social media, Trump again threatened to cut off all but the minimum federal funding for New York if Mamdani wins. He also instructed his followers to rally behind Cuomo.
“A vote for Curtis Sliwa (who looks much better without the beret!) is a vote for Mamdani,” Trump said. “Whether you personally like Andrew Cuomo or not, you really have no choice. You must vote for him, and hope he does a fantastic job. He is capable of it, Mamdani is not!”
Mamdani upset the Democratic establishment in June when he comfortably won the party’s primary on a platform of wealth redistribution that would increase income taxes on the top 1 per cent of earners and hike corporate taxes in the cradle of American capitalism.
Donald Trump walks across the South Lawn of the White House on Sunday.Credit: AP
In return, Mamdani plans to introduce universal childcare, freeze rents on rent-stabilised apartments, build social housing and make buses free. But he has also been criticised for his remarks about Israel and his past support for the “defund the police” movement – positions he has now disavowed.
As such, Mamdani has become a lightning rod for Republican attacks on “extreme” Democrats and sparked a fresh debate about the future of the Democratic Party nationwide.