Failed Republican New York City mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa is not taking his loss or the fact that Donald Trump did not endorse him in the race lying down.
Sliwa ran unopposed in the Republican primary, but after Zohran Mamdani pulled off the upset against Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic Party primary, Cuomo ran as an independent.
Trump endorsed Cuomo over Sliwa, who now appears to be out for revenge.
Republicans never took the NYC mayor’s race seriously, something made obvious by the fact that Curtis Sliwa ran unopposed.
The Republican hierarchy in New York made the same assumption that most other people did in thinking that Cuomo would run away with the Democratic Party primary and easily win the general election.
Mamdani beat him handily, however, though Cuomo was not about to give up, and that put the GOP in a very bad position. Trump then made it clear he wanted Sliwa to leave the race to prevent a Mamdani win.
Even the president's son, Eric Trump, suggested the same, saying that Sliwa should drop out because Cuomo had the only realistic chance of beating Mamdani. He even stated that while he did not like Cuomo, “at least he’s not trying to nationalize grocery stores.”
Late polling showed a massive collapse in support for Sliwa after the final debate and Trump's endorsement of Cuomo.
In the end, Mamdani won by 8.8%, winning just over 50% of the vote, so a Sliwa withdrawal likely would not have changed the outcome, although it would have made the contest much tighter.
Cuomo won precincts made of mostly white voters, but Mamdani took everything else, and it was not even close. Black voters, among whom Trump made a massive surge in the 2024 election, voted for Mamdani 61-35%, which is yet another reason why I rang the panic bell after this election ended.
This was not about Mamdani winning as much as it was the way he and other Democrats prevailed in key races. The GOP took a major hit in areas where the party had made huge gains in 2024, and that is a problem that nobody seems to want to address.
Sliwa is now calling out Trump for some old-fashioned political theater during the election, especially after the lovefest he had with Mamdani at the White House last week.
He stated, “Everyone in the world, everyone in the country, everyone in New York City, got played by these two thespians, these actors because, remember, eight months ago, we thought it was Godzilla versus King Kong. There was Zohran Mamdani calling Donald Trump a fascist -- he’s not. And then Donald Trump calling Zohran Mamdani a communist -- he’s not.”
Sliwa then went over all the insults that were hurled during the election by both sides, then added, “So, they’re, like, antagonizing their followers. And then, all of a sudden, today, we’re expected to believe kumbaya: everything is fine, everything moves normally. No, no, no, no, no.”
The failed candidate went so far as to say that Trump owed his followers an apology for faking outrage over Mamdani, saying he “clearly” did not mean it. While I have seen a lot of MAGA stalwarts react positively to the meeting, I have seen far more who are fuming and feel betrayed by Trump. It may not be enough for them to lose faith in the movement, but many were clearly shaken. If Trump helps Mamdani at all, I would imagine there will be an uprising, but we won’t be able to see that until the new mayor is sworn in. I have already stated I was not happy about the White House meeting, but I will reserve judgment until I see actions to support any outrage.
