Zohran Mamdani 'congratulates' Andrew Cuomo after Trump backs him for NYC mayor

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Zohran Mamdani congratulated Andrew Cuomo after President Donald Trump endorsed him for NYC mayor on Monday, November 3.

During CBS’s '60 Minutes' interview, Trump was asked to pick between the two candidates. The Republican leader called Mamdani “a communist” and described Andrew Cuomo as “a bad Democrat.” After a short pause, Trump said he’d go with “the bad Democrat.”

The city heads to the polls on Tuesday, November 4.

Zohran Mamdani congratulates Andrew Cuomo after Trump backs him

Zohran Mamdani, the 34-year-old state assemblyman, took to his official social media account. In a post that quickly gained traction, Mamdani reshared a Google search poster titled “Trump Endorses Andrew Cuomo.” Along with the post, he added the caption, “Congratulations, Andrew Cuomo. I know how hard you worked for this.”

Within hours, the post had racked up over 1.5 million views and nearly 4.8k reshares. As of now, Cuomo has not commented on the remark or shared any statement on his social media accounts.

Donald Trump labels Zohran Mamdani a 'communist' while discussing NYC mayoral race

When Trump was asked about the possibility of Zohran Mamdani winning the mayor’s seat, the Republican president admitted it would be “hard” for him to give “a lot of money” to New York under such leadership.

Interrupting the anchor when she referred to Mamdani as a “Democratic socialist,” Trump sharply interjected, calling him a “communist.” “I’m not a fan of Cuomo one way or the other,” Trump said about the former governor, who is now running as an Independent. “But if it’s going to be between a bad Democrat and a Communist, I’m going to pick the bad Democrat all the time.”

Trump went on to suggest that between Andrew Cuomo and Zohran Mamdani, Cuomo was “the lesser of two evils,” though he made clear he wasn’t exactly fond of the Democrat either.

“It’s gonna be hard for me as the president to give a lot of money to New York. Because if you have a communist running New York, all you’re doing is wasting the money you’re sending there,” Trump said. 

“So I don’t know that he’s won, and I’m not a fan of Cuomo one way or the other, but if it’s gonna be between a bad Democrat and a communist, I’m gonna pick the bad Democrat all the time, to be honest with you," he concluded.