This piece first ran as part of The Countdown, our daily newsletter rounding up all the developments in the New York City mayor’s race. Sign up here to get it in your inbox. There are 76 days to the election.
🧌 A memelord makes a mess for Cuomo
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Andrew Cuomo’s social media makeover, marked by a proliferation of online replies and memes, backfired after meme creator Jason Levin proudly took credit for an image reposted on Cuomo’s X page. He also posted a photo with Cuomo that appeared to be taken at a young professionals fundraiser on Monday night, according to Politico’s Playbook.
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Why does that matter? Well, it turns out that Levin is a vocal supporter of Donald Trump, in addition to an online provocateur. He has called Trump “the best supporter of the Jewish people and Israel we could ever ask for” and posted a photo of Trump in a kippah with the caption, “I’M A PROUD JEW WHO VOTED FOR HITLER.” (Calling Trump “Hitler” seems meant to provoke liberals.)
- Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi said that Levin “is not paid by the campaign” despite suggesting one meme, adding that “hatred, bigotry, misogyny and anything like that has no place in this race.”
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Still, the connection is notable because …
👀 Is Cuomo counting on Trump?
- At a fundraiser in the Hamptons on Sunday, Cuomo predicted that Trump could intervene in the race to stop Zohran Mamdani. He said the president could convince his base to support Cuomo over Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa, according to audio obtained by Politico.
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Cuomo was hosted at the home of Jewish media executive Jimmy Finkelstein in Southampton. Also co-hosting was Finkelstein’s brother, Andrew Stein, former New York City Council President and a longtime friend of Trump who has briefed the president on Cuomo’s chances of beating Mamdani, according to The New York Times.
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“Trump himself, as well as top Republicans, will say the goal is to stop Mamdani,” Cuomo said at the fundraiser. “And you’ll be wasting your vote on Sliwa. So I feel good about that.”
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Sliwa and Mayor Eric Adams, the other main contender running as an independent, both snapped back at Cuomo and have said they won’t drop out to help him.
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Cuomo has publicly denied any coordination with Trump, instead saying he is the only candidate who can “deal with” him. But privately, he has told business leaders that he isn’t “personally” looking for a fight with the president.
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Trump is unpopular in the overwhelmingly Democratic city of New York, and Mamdani has a commanding lead in recent polls, including an edge with Jewish voters. But in the 2024 presidential election, Trump picked up votes from an estimated 46% of Jewish New Yorkers, compared with 37% in 2020.
🥊 NYPD whistleblower joins Mamdani’s corner
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Mamdani has a former undercover detective in his corner. He got an online endorsement on Tuesday from Frank Serpico, who testified about corruption in the NYPD and inspired the 1973 movie “Serpico,” starring Al Pacino and produced by Jewish filmmaker Martin Bregman.
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“Go Mamdani,” Serpico said on X, adding, “He could be the next LaGuardia. NY needs new leadership, not the old boys dead wood crowd.”
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Mamdani has called Fiorello La Guardia, who led the city from 1934 to 1945, the best mayor of “all time.” A Republican who was among the country’s most progressive leaders, La Guardia had a Jewish mother and spoke out against the Nazis when few other U.S. politicians did in the 1930s. His sister, who lived in Hungary before the outbreak of World War II, was sent to concentration camps and survived.
- One place where the two progressives would disagree: La Guardia, who died in 1947, identified as a Zionist.
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