President Donald Trump has supporters of Zohran Mamdani rattled.
As Trump tries to force New York City Mayor Eric Adams out of the mayoral race to prevent front-runner Mamdani from being elected, supporters of the democratic socialist are calling on top Democrats to endorse him.
Adams met with Trump in Florida amid reports he would land a job in the Trump administration if he dropped his reelection bid to help boost Andrew Cuomo, who is running a third-party bid after badly losing to Mamdani in the primary. Adams has said he will not drop out despite polling in the single digits.
"What I must do is what I always have said: stay focused, don't be distracted by all the sensationalism, run our city, keep it safe, and run for reelection," Adams told reporters.
Republican Curtis Sliwa has also refused to drop out of the race despite calls from Trump to make it a one-on-one race between Mamdani and Cuomo.
Trump has said he doesn't want to see "communist" Mamdani become mayor.
"I would like to see two people drop out and have it be one on one," he said Thursday. "I think that's a race."
Mamdani supporters are demanding Gov. Kathy Hochul, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, R-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., throw their support behind the Democrat nominee.
"We have a Democratic nominee," Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., told reporters. "Are we a party that rallies behind our nominee or not?"
Jay Jacobs, the chair of the New York State Democrats, said elected officials shouldn't make rash moves based on Trump.
"I'd suggest that we don't allow the machinations of Donald Trump to dictate what our own electoral preferences or actions are," Jacobs, a Hochul ally, said to Politico. "That's not the way smart political decisions are made. They're made on the basis of their best judgment as it relates to their constituents and whether you think it's right. Reactive behavior is very often the wrong way to go."
Mamdani met in person with Hochul and Jeffries and spoke by phone with Schumer. But no endorsements have been forthcoming since his June primary victory.
Jeffries, who said "stay tuned" when asked about a Mamdani endorsement, said he thinks Trump's influence will only help Mamdani.
"I don't see it having any political benefit for any of the people who are allegedly connected to some effort led by Donald Trump and the administration to change the trajectory of the New York City mayoral race," Jeffries said to reporters, noting Trump's unpopularity in the city.
A Cuomo spokesman told Politico that his team has not discussed an endorsement with Schumer or Jeffries. Cuomo has insisted Trump does not want him as mayor.
"Our interactions were not pleasant, and I stood up, and I fought him every step of the way," Cuomo said. "So my speculation: If he wants anything, anyone, he wants Mamdani, because he would go through that kid like a Mack truck."
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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