Since New York City’s mayoral primary in June, the ultrarich have been panicking over how to stop democratic socialist front-runner Zohran Mamdani. Now it seems they have found their answer: a helping hand from Donald Trump.
A major problem for Mamdani’s opponents has been that his competitors — incumbent mayor Eric Adams, former governor Andrew Cuomo, and quixotic Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa — all seem poised to split the anti-socialist vote. The last two months have seen a concerted effort by Republicans, centrist Democrats, and wealthy interests to try to consolidate around a single candidate. Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman attempted to find a solution early on, offering to bankroll a new challenger to Mamdani before declaring that Adams had actually been the right man for the job all along.
But in early August, the New York Times reported that Trump himself had talked to close Democratic allies of Cuomo, who attempted to convince the president that the former governor had the best shot at beating Mamdani in November. The Times also reported that Cuomo and Trump had spoken personally. More recently, Cuomo told the crowd at a Hamptons fundraiser that he was optimistic Trump would help convince Republicans to vote for him.
This week, Trump made his strongest intervention in the election yet, offering Adams a job with the administration in the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The offer looks like a strong enticement for Adams, who is wildly unpopular and polling in the single digits after his and his administration’s cartoonishly corrupt conduct has come to light, to drop out of the race. It also appears to be the fruit of conversations between Trump and the Cuomo camp — strongly suggesting that Cuomo is using an alliance with Trump to reshape the terrain in his favor.
As Mamdani put it on X yesterday: “Today’s news confirms it: Cuomo is Trump’s choice for Mayor. The White House is…
Auteur: Nick French
