Ex-Governor Andrew Cuomo said he doesn’t want President Trump to intervene in his campaign and that he has no stake in whether Mayor Adams drops out of the mayoral race to take a job in the Trump administration.
“I don’t want him involved in anything to do with my race,” Cuomo said of Trump, but added that what Adams decides to do, including whether to stay in the race, is up to him.
Speaking at a press event Thursday morning on the Upper West Side, the former governor also said repeatedly that he didn’t personally know or care about what was going on between Adams and Trump — although he would stand to benefit from a narrowed field.
“No, I have no idea,” Cuomo said in response to a question about whether the Trump administration has contacted anyone from his campaign.
Adams has not dismissed the possibility of joining the Trump administration. The conversations about a potential White House job opportunity for the mayor are part of an ongoing effort to stop Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani from becoming New York City’s mayor.
President Donald Trump (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Adams has denied reports that he’s been offered at job at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, as reported by Politico.
“I’m surprised how the standards of reporting in The New York Times has flopped so much,” Adams said on Thursday. “I’ve never asked for a job with HUD, I’ve never been promised a job with HUD, I have not communicated with the president.”
Republican mayoral nominee Curtis Sliwa shut down the idea of a job with Trump on Thursday.
“The White House has not contacted me, and I’m not interested in a job with the White House,” Sliwa said in a statement. “My focus is right here in New York.”
Cuomo could stand to benefit from Adams exiting the race since the two men are competing for some of the same voters. With Mamdani as the clear frontrunner, there has been a push for other candidates to drop out in order to orchestrate a head-to-head race between Mamdani and a candidate further toward the center.
Mamdani accused Trump of trying to rig the race in Cuomo’s favor at a press conference Wednesday.
“New Yorkers,” the democratic socialist said, “are fed up with politics as they know it because of news like this: backroom deals, corrupt agreements, all of which serve to increase the sense of disaffection and despair as it pertains to how people feel about politics across this country.”
