Billionaire Michael Bloomberg reaffirmed his support for former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) in New York City’s mayoral race, highlighting how “Cuomo has the experience and toughness” to stand up for the people of the city.
In a post on X, Bloomberg, who previously served as mayor of New York City between 2002-2013, pointed out that serving as mayor of NYC “is the second toughest job in America.”
“Four months ago I endorsed @AndrewCuomo because I thought his management experience and government know-how made him the best choice for New Yorkers,” Bloomberg wrote. “I still do. And today, with early voting underway, I wanted to reiterate my support for Andrew Cuomo.”
Bloomberg continued: “Being Mayor of New York City is the second toughest job in America, and the next mayor will face immense challenges. Andrew Cuomo has the experience and toughness to stand up for New Yorkers and get things done. I hope you will join me in supporting him.”
The comments from Bloomberg come as he gave $1.5 million to a Super PAC called “Fix the City,” which is “run by a longtime Cuomo ally,” the New York Times reported.
The money given to the Super PAC also represented “Bloomberg’s first foray into the mayor’s race since the Democratic primary,” and also comes as “business elites” in the city had made threats to spend roughly $100 million as part of an effort to “knock out” socialist NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani from the race, according to the outlet.
Though Bloomberg reportedly “feuded with Mr. Cuomo when he was governor,” he and Mamdani “have starker differences,” according to the outlet.
Bloomberg’s support of Cuomo in the upcoming mayoral race comes as Mamdani has advocated for city-run grocery stores and has suggested sending “mental health experts” to respond to certain crimes instead of police officers.
Breitbart News also reported that Mamdani has received criticism for comments he made on a podcast in July 2020 in which he spoke against sending police officers to respond to domestic violence calls. Mamdani claimed on the podcast that “police do not create safety”:
Police do not create safety … there are so many responsibilities we’ve given to police that, frankly, should have nothing to do with their departments … if somebody is jaywalking, if somebody is surviving, going through domestic violence — there are so many different, different situations that would be far better handled by people trained to deal with those specific situations, as opposed to an individual with a gun.
A Quinnipiac University poll, conducted between October 23-27, which surveyed 911 likely voters in NYC, found that Mamdani was leading with 43 percent of support, while Cuomo received 33 percent of support. NYC Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa received 14 percent of support.
