A defiant Curtis Sliwa, the Republican nominee for New York mayor, told Newsmax on Wednesday that he will not drop out of the race to prevent Zohran Mamdani, the democratic socialist front-runner, from winning the election and implementing an extreme-leftist agenda.
Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, running as an independent candidate, and many other Republicans have said the only way to defeat Mamdani is for Sliwa to end his candidacy.
"I don't surrender to Andrew Cuomo, a disgraced governor who, because of his failures, made a pathway for me to become possibly the next mayor," Sliwa said on "Finnerty."
Sliwa said both Mamdani and Cuomo support freeing criminals, and he is the only law-and-order candidate.
"Cuomo has been off the campaign trail for 10 days," Sliwa said. "Don't say I'm a defeated candidate, because I'm fighting for Republican principles, law-and-order principles, quality-of-life principles."
"Maybe you like living in a city where they lock up toothpaste and don't lock up criminals, but that's because of Andrew Cuomo and Zohran," Sliwa continued, noting he has the endorsement of both former Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Gov. George Pataki.
Sliwa dismissed polls showing him in third place, noting that polls had Cuomo with an overwhelming lead on Mamdani in the Democratic primary, only for Mamdani to win by double digits.
"You keep looking at the polls. I'll look to the people," Sliwa said. "I'll keep working the streets and subways, 20 hours of a 24-hour day."
The Guardian Angels founder said people should stop considering Cuomo, who does not have New York's interest at heart.
"You're flirting with Cuomo," he said referring to voters. "He said he would leave New York City and flee to Florida.
"I fight for what I know is right. If I happen to lose this, I become Zohran’s worst nightmare."
Sam Barron ✉
Sam Barron has almost two decades of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, crime and business.
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