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President Donald Trump says he was shocked by the key endorsement New York City Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani landed this weekend.
Hours after Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York backed Mamdani, Trump took to social media early Monday to give the endorsement a big thumbs down. And the president suggested that federal funding for the nation’s most populous city could be in jeopardy.
“Governor Kathy Hochul of New York has Endorsed the ‘”Liddle” Communist,’ Zohran Mamdani, running for Mayor of New York. This is a rather shocking development, and a very bad one for New York City,” the president wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Mamdani, a 33-year-old democratic socialist state lawmaker from the New York City borough of Queens, rocked the political world in June with his convincing win over former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and nine other candidates to capture the Democratic Party’s mayoral nomination in the nation’s most populous city.
TRUMP REVEALS NEW NICKNAME FOR MAMDANI
Following Mamdani’s primary victory, Trump immediately criticized him as a “100% Communist Lunatic.”
The president has continued to repeatedly deride Mamdani as a communist in the ensuing months, while warning that New York City would become “a communist city” if Mamdani wins November’s mayoral election.
“I call him my little communist. He’s my little communist mayor,” Trump said of Mamdani during an extended studio interview Friday on Fox News’ “Fox and Friends.”
Trump, in his social media post, also hinted at restricting federal funding for New York City if Mamdani wins November’s mayoral election.
“How can such a thing happen? Washington will be watching this situation very closely. No reason to be sending good money after bad!” the president said.
POLL POSITION: JUST HOW LARGE IS MAMDANI’S LEAD IN THE NYC MAYORAL RACE?
Mamdani proposes eliminating fares on New York City’s vast bus system, making CUNY (City University of New York) “tuition-free,” freezing rents on municipal housing, offering “free childcare” for children up to age 5 and setting up government-run grocery stores.
But Mamdani, who was born in Uganda and would become New York City’s first Muslim and first millennial mayor if elected, has denied being a communist.
Hochul, in her endorsement, wrote that “New York City deserves a mayor who will stand up to Donald Trump and make life more affordable for New Yorkers. That’s @ZohranKMamdani.”
The governor’s endorsement, which came nearly three months after Mamdani’s primary victory, is significant. It may help Mamdani secure the backing of other key members of the party’s establishment. And it will likely put more pressure on two other top Democrats in New York State who are still withholding their backing of Mamdani — Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, the top two Democratic Party leaders in Congress.
Mamdani, in a statement, said he was “grateful to the Governor for her support in unifying our party — as well as the work she’s done standing up to President Trump, securing free lunch meals for our kids, and expanding access to childcare.”
CUOMO SHAKES UP CAMPAIGN IN BID TO TAKE DOWN MAMDANI
Mamdani is the clear frontrunner in the latest public opinion polls in the mayoral race in the Democrat-dominated city.
Mamdani holds large double-digit leads over Cuomo and the rest of the field in three surveys released over the past week.
Guardian Angels co-founder Curtis Sliwa, who for a second straight election is the Republican mayoral nominee in the Democrat-dominated city, was a distant third in the polls, with embattled incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, who is running as an independent after deciding to skip the Democratic primary amid anemic polling, further down in fourth place.
Both Sliwa and Adams have repeatedly committed to staying in the race in recent weeks amid multiple reports that Trump’s advisors floated administration roles for both mayoral hopefuls if they dropped out.
On Sunday, following a new report that Adams would drop out in the coming days, the mayor’s spokesman fired back.
“Let me be perfectly clear: Any rumor or tweet suggesting Mayor Adams is stepping down this week is complete bulls—,” spokesman Todd Shapiro wrote in a statement. “These lies are being spread by desperate opponents who can’t match the mayor’s record, his campaign energy, or his support across this city.”
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