The Conservative Inc. braintrust has a brilliant new idea for Republicans to consider: support Andrew Cuomo. Led by the multi-page Twitter rants of Bill Ackman, conservative accounts on X are suddenly agitating for incumbent New York Mayor Eric Adams to drop out of the New York City mayoral race in a last-ditch effort to defeat the democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani.
“Cuomo is an experienced leader that cares deeply about our city who has the relevant experience and skills necessary to lead and greatly improve NYC,” wrote Ackman on Thursday evening. “Andrew has major accomplishments as governor. He also made some mistakes. I am a huge believer in backing leaders who have learned from their mistakes and have something to prove.”
Ackman and users on X are not alone in their stated desire for Adams to drop out. According to new reports out of Florida, Adams considered abandoning his campaign after meeting with Steve Witkoff, one of President Donald Trump’s closest advisers and a well-known figure in New York real estate. Though Witkoff has worked as special envoy to the Middle East, his “secret meeting” with Adams in Florida this week is fresh evidence that Trump counts Witkoff among his closest confidantes.
At that meeting, Witkoff reportedly floated the idea of Adams becoming the ambassador to Saudi Arabia. Although the Trump administration has not confirmed reporting by the New York Times on Friday, the Saudi ambassadorship would be an ironic and somewhat fitting role for a man who has been charged with accepting illegal campaign contributions and luxury travel from regional actors in the Middle East.
Adams has been targeted by angry Democrats after he pushed back on illegal immigration at the end of former president Joe Biden’s single term in office. Cynics argue that Adams, who was being investigated for bribery and corruption at the time, was simply buttering up the incoming Trump administration by playing hardball on immigration, a foundational piece of the Trump campaign pitch. In April, less than three months into the second Trump administration, U.S. District Judge Dale Ho permanently dismissed federal corruption charges against Adams following the Justice Department’s move to dismiss the charges in February. And just like that, Adams had dodged what he labeled “baseless” accusations.
But the lengthy debacle cast a pernicious shadow over Adams, who has governed as a lame-duck mayor over this last year. The growing dissatisfaction with Adams and similar frustrations with Cuomo’s Covid-era governorship led to a seismic upset in June, when Mamdani was catapulted out of obscurity and onto the national political landscape by defeating both Cuomo and Adams in the Democratic primary. Mamdani’s victory shocked the American political world and signaled the possibility of a new era for the progressive flank of the Democratic Party.
Mamdani’s startling success has led a cacophony of right-wing voices, the loudest being Ackman, to pitch strategies to undo what appears a likely victory for Mamdani in November. “Electing an anti-business, Socialist, mayor who supports terrorism as a means of ‘resistance’ would be catastrophic for New York and our country,” implored Ackman on X. “Mayor Adams, it is time for you to play a critical role in NYC’s future by gracefully stepping aside to enable Andrew to win.”
Ackman’s call for Adams to vacate the race comes on the heels of a Tulchin Research survey that queried 1,000 likely New York voters and found Cuomo ahead of Mamdani in a head-to-head matchup by a margin of 52 to 41 percent. Though the poll is a promising sign for the anti-Mamdani coalition, Adams extinguished their excitement late on Friday afternoon when he announced his plans to remain in the race.
“There has been so much speculation, communications, announcements of what I’m doing, no matter what I have stated over and over again publicly,” Adams, who was late to a hastily-organized press conference, told assembled reporters. “So I want to be clear with you. Andrew Cuomo is a snake and a liar. I am in this race, and I’m the only one that can beat Mamdani.”
But even if Adams dropped his mayoral candidacy, Cuomo would likely still trail Mamdani. The Republican candidate, Curtis Sliwa, continues to lag well behind the field with double-digit support. Sliwa, who has spent the better part of five decades circling the drain of New York City politics after rising to prominence via the crime prevention non-profit the Guardian Angels, will not be the next mayor of New York City. The beret-wearing Sliwa already had his best opportunity to win the NYC mayorship in 2021, when the world turned upside down during the Covid pandemic. Though the pandemic helped Republican candidates such as Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin eke out improbable electoral victories, Sliwa failed to secure even 30 percent of the vote in New York City. Nevertheless, despite the odds stacked against him, Sliwa is refusing to bow out of the race. Per New York Times reporting, to his credit, Sliwa has made it clear he will not be bought by the Trump White House and that he plans to stay in the race.
Subscribe Today
Get daily emails in your inbox
Cuomo, whose disastrous term as New York governor ended in national shame, is down double-digits to the ascendent Mamdani. Cuomo’s tenure as governor was dogged by controversy; many of the same conservative types now begging the disgraced Democrat to save them from a Mamdani mayorship were among Cuomo’s loudest critics then. And for good reason. Cuomo’s administration was not only accused of underreporting Covid-19 deaths to cover up mismanagement of the pandemic in nursing homes, but the governor himself was accused of sexual harassment on multiple occasions. In the end, Cuomo resigned in humiliation following the New York Attorney General’s report that found he had sexually harassed 11 women.
Mamdani has proposed increased taxes on residents earning more than $1 million annually. He has promised to enact a citywide rent freeze while rolling out new programs such as free child care, city-owned grocery stores, and public transportation. Though his stated policies have found support in the NYC electorate, the Democratic Party bosses have yet to sign off on the former New York state assemblyman. U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul have all failed to endorse Mamdani, despite his 13-point primary victory over Cuomo.
Though conservatives have good reason to worry about the wide-eyed Mamdani, promoting a serial harasser who lied about COVID deaths is evidence of the wild measures some are willing to take if it means keeping the 33-year-old progressive from assuming the mayor’s office. Whether any of the last-gasp attempts to slow the coming progressive crunch will be successful is a decision that will be left to voters.
