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A New York Times article says that President Trump has been quietly making calls to consolidate candidates and defeat Zohran Mamdani in the New York City mayoral campaign. The Times contends it has four sources on the record that say Trump has spoken with incumbent Mayor Eric Adams and former Governor Andrew Cuomo, who have all denied the phone calls ever happened. At the very least, it does raise questions about why the White House would be so concerned about the winner of a mayoral race. Former Nassau County Executive Laura Curran also found the article intriguing, as well as a little tough to swallow. She appeared on 710 WOR’s Mendte in the Morning program to talk about the behind-the-scenes intrigue in the race to run the Big Apple.
“When I first heard that I was very skeptical,” Curran told host Larry Mendte. “I would think, strategically, it would be helpful for Republicans to have Mamdani as mayor, because then for the mid-terms next year they can tie all the Democrats running to a socialist New York City mayor, but maybe I’m being too cynical… I just find this whole thing sort of puzzling and I’d really love to know what the truth is, because honestly I’d think Mamdani would be his pick, just for political purposes, or Adams because Eric Adams has proven to be quite loyal and helpful, and Adams kind of owes him for pardoning him from all those corruption charges.”
Curran sees the possibility the article could backfire as an anti-Mamdani screed simply because Trump’s name is attached to it. “Maybe in the end it helps Mamdani… This is like a slam-dunk for him, and he’s already ahead in the polls, so I don’t know. Trump’s not popular with a lot of New York City voters; I don’t have to tell you that. Maybe this is a way to muddy the waters in a way to really help Mamdani in the end in a very 3D chess-like way.”
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