Me-ouch.
President Trump dissed his fellow Republican Curtis Sliwa on Friday as not up for leading New York City — while mocking the GOP mayoral nominee’s infamous love of cats.
“Look, I’m a Republican, but Curtis is not exactly prime time,” he said on “Fox & Friends.”
“He wants cats to be in Gracie Mansion… We don’t need thousands of cats.”
The dismissive assessment of Sliwa came after the morning show’s hosts asked Trump whether he wanted longshot mayoral candidates to drop out of the race to prevent democratic socialist frontrunner Zohran Mamdani from moving into Gracie Mansion.
The president and his allies have staged on unprecedented interjection into the crowded mayoral race, attempting to maneuver a one-on-one contest between Mamdani and the most-viable challenger, sources have said.
Trump made clear he believes Sliwa and Mayor Eric Adams, who are respectively polling at third- and fourth-place, can’t win.
He said former Gov. Andrew Cuomo could have a shot in a head-to-head contest against Mamdani.
“It would look to me like Cuomo, frankly, is leading the other two,” he said.
Sliwa, who has had a long “love-hate relationship” with Trump, didn’t back down from his vocal love of cats and other animals.
“New Yorkers care for people and for animals, and so do I,” he said in a statement. “I am proud of my wife Nancy, who has devoted her life to fostering, caring for, and saving animals, and fighting for them when no one else would.
“As mayor I will deliver a humane, affordable, and livable city by focusing on animal welfare, tackling affordability, cleaning up the city, improving quality of life, being tough on crime, and making Gracie Mansion the People’s House where we address the issues New Yorkers care about.”
Sliwa, when he unsuccessfully ran against Adams in the 2021 general election, indicated he might transform the mayoral residence into a cat sanctuary.
“I’ve been in Gracie Mansion before. There is easily room in there for 60 cats,” he told New York Magazine at the time.
