Curtis Sliwa, the Republican nominee for New York City mayor, remained defiant as ever about his refusal to drop out of the race.
Sliwa appeared on WABC, the talk radio station where he previously worked, to once again reject multiple pleas from former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is running as an independent, to exit the race.
Sliwa quit the station after a fiery exchange with station owner John Catsimatidis on Wednesday, Oct. 15.
Cuomo and others have expressed alarm that Sliwa staying in the race all but clinches victory for Zohran Mamdani, a Democratic socialist.
But Sliwa framed his latest refusal as a life-or-death situation.
"Remember the scene in 'Braveheart,' Mel Gibson at the end, when the executioner was impaling him?" Sliwa began while appearing on "Sid and Friends."
"If all of a sudden the executioner would have stopped, and I was on that gurney, and [he] said, 'Hey, you can work for Mayor Andrew Cuomo.'
I would say: 'Finish the job; impale me. That will never happen.'"
Sliwa also vowed he would never work again for WABC, a conservative talk radio station, after billionaire Catsimatidis, who owns the station, and radio personality Sid Rosenberg urged him to exit the race.
"You will never see me ever in the studios of WABC again, never, no matter how this election turns out," Sliwa said.
"I cannot go out there every day and have to try to defend WABC, which is now ganging up on me in every conceivable way."
As Sliwa continued to criticize Cuomo, Rosenberg was trying to get him to train his fire on Mamdani, who holds a double digit lead over both men.
"You've mentioned Cuomo for 12 minutes. You're still not talking about Mamdani," Rosenberg said. "You're talking about WABC and Cuomo, that's not going to win you this goddamn race!
"All I'm asking is, going into this debate tonight, that you realize that it's not Cuomo.
"He's in second. He's double digits back. You've got to beat Mamdani.
"If you beat Cuomo with all your Cuomo talk, congratulations, you'll come in second. You still lose."
Earlier Wednesday, billionaire investor Bill Ackman, a Cuomo supporter, accused Sliwa of keeping his campaign alive to bankroll his family and friends with taxpayer money.
On social media, Ackman said he spoke with a "highly credible source" who alleged that Sliwa's wife, friends, and associates are on the campaign payroll — all funded by New York City's 8-to-1 public matching program.
The investor claimed Sliwa received roughly $5 million in matching funds and is refusing to drop out because doing so would require returning unspent money.
"He and they are enjoying living off the city taxpayers who are funding his race and lifestyle," Ackman wrote. "He doesn't want to end his campaign and have to return the funds."
Sliwa has yet to address Ackman's charges.
Sam Barron ✉
Sam Barron has almost two decades of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, crime and business.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.