Rudy Giuliani endorsed fellow Republican Curtis Sliwa for mayor Monday night, dealing a blow to independent Andrew Cuomo as he tries to build crossover appeal to take out front-runner Zohran Mamdani.
“Here’s my choice: 100 percent Curtis Sliwa,” Giuliani, 81, said on his X podcast while Sliwa appeared on the show.
The former two-term mayor and Trump attorney blasted Mamdani and Cuomo, the former governor who lost a Democratic Party primary to Mamdani in June before heading into the general election campaigning as a moderate alternative to the socialist front-runner.
Giuliani said Cuomo “ran a terrible campaign” in the Democratic primary and “lost to a 33-year-old,” referring to Mamdani, the Queens assemblyman.
“He’s also a governor who resigned in disgrace,” Giuliani said, referring to Cuomo stepping down as governor while facing a slew of sexual harassment accusations. Cuomo has denied the claims.
Giuliani tore into Cuomo for his administration’s controversial March 25, 2020, order that directed nursing homes to accept COVID-infected patients discharged from hospitals during the peak of the pandemic shutdown.
The policy led to the “deaths of many, many, many elderly people who were put in nursing homes and didn’t belong there,” Giuliani claimed.
Giuliani said Cuomo tried to deflect on his handling of the nursing home controversy but pointed his finger at the camera and said, “Blame it on him!”
He also noted that it was Cuomo who was in office when the state approved controversial reforms to its bail laws that critics said made it easier for repeat offenders to walk free, only to commit more crimes.
And he blamed Cuomo for relaxed rules that make it easier for convicted cop killers to get sprung by the state Parole Board — more than 40 in the past eight years.
“The guy who passed these laws is Andrew Cuomo,” Giuliani said.
He lit into Mamdani, calling him an “avowed communist” and saying Mamdani and the Democratic Socialists of America “stand for everything evil.”
“He prefers Islamic extremism over America. He prefers Marxist communism over America,” the former mayor said.
Giuliani said Mamdani calling the New York Police Department “racist” is unforgivable, and disqualifying.
“You better get on your knees and apologize for calling them racists! You bum,” he said, and claimed that Mamdani “doesn’t belong in America” even though he acknowledged he is a naturalized citizen.
Giuliani said he’s gotten immense pressure — even from Republicans and some of his associates and friends — to endorse Cuomo over Sliwa in a bid to block Mamdani from winning City Hall.
But he said it was better to stand on principle — even though he once crossed party lines to endorse Andrew Cuomo’s dad. In 1994, Giuliani backed then Democratic Gov. Mario Cuomo’s re-election bid over Republican challenger George Pataki, who went on to win the race.
Giuliani’s enthusiastic backing of Sliwa stands in contrast to his pal, President Trump, who has not endorsed Sliwa and said the Republican nominee is “not exactly prime time.”
Giuliani, 81, is still popular among city Republicans and older and more moderate to conservative city voters — providing a boost to Sliwa’s campaign and a setback for Cuomo to win crossover support from the right.
Sliwa was thrilled with Giuliani’s backing, calling him New York’s “greatest mayor” and vowing to be “Giuliani 2.0.”
Giuliani has also been mired in controversy while defending Trump.
A Giuliani rep claimed the criminal cases in Georgia and Arizona are on their last legs and could soon be dismissed while the $148 million defamation case was settled without any admission of liability or wrongdoing.
Additional reporting by Hannah Fierick
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