President Trump again weighed in on the New York City mayoral race Wednesday, giving a brutal diagnosis of Republican Curtis Sliwa’s election chances and declaring he’d rather see a Democrat in charge than a “communist” at City Hall.
“If [Sliwa] dropped out, he’s not going to win — and not looking too good for Cuomo either,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, referring to Republican Curtis Sliwa and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo who is running as an independent.
“But maybe, I don’t know, if he dropped out, maybe Cuomo would have a little bit of a chance, but not much, because it looks like the lead is, it’s not a great lead, but it’s big enough that he should be able to win,” Trump said.
Democratic Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani now holds a double-digit lead with 43.2%, while Cuomo trails at 28.9% and Sliwa grabs 19.4%, according to the latest polls.
The margin would shrink dramatically if Sliwa exited the race — Cuomo would be just four points behind Mamdani, within the survey’s margin of error.
Sliwa, famous for his red beret and Guardian Angels activism, insists he’s staying in the race despite mounting calls for him to step aside and let anti-Mamdani votes consolidate behind Cuomo.
With just two weeks before Election Day, Trump has not officially made an endorsement in the race as he bashed Mamdani, calling him a “communist.”
“So I don’t know that I want to get involved. It’s really a question of, would I rather have a Democrat or a communist? And I would rather have a Democrat than a communist if he dropped it,” Trump said.
