‘Birds of a feather’: Trump’s endorsement of Cuomo divides NYC voters

The final minutes of voting for Jessica Dejesus as the next mayor of New York City were up for grabs.

The 40-year-old Bronx resident of Mott Haven planned to support former governor Andrew Cuomo despite admitting to not having been closely following the election. She recalls his nearly nightly television appearances while he was the governor of New York State during the COVID-19 pandemic.

She remarked, “He was our guy during the pandemic.”

However, Dejesus watched a TikTok video detailing US President Donald Trump’s support for Cuomo the day before the election.

Dejesus is aware that she is not a fan of Trump, despite her mayoral campaign cliches. Social Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, received a closer look as a result of her nod.

“That’s impossible for us.” Trump has cut back on food stamps, which affects a lot of people, she said, referring to restrictions on US Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits in a bill that Trump and Republicans passed earlier this year.

In response to Trump’s massive deportation drive, she said, “I understand you have to stop bad people coming over the border, but there are a lot of good immigrants here as well.”

She admitted to going to her voting site and telling Al Jazeera that she still hadn’t decided. She said, “I’ll have to wait until that paper is in front of me.”

She declared, “I voted for Mamdani,” and she was done! she stated.

You really have no other options, they say.

A community like Mott Haven, which had a strong turnout for Mamdani and Cuomo in the June primary, can be seen as a final blow to the race by Trump’s endorsement.

Trump, in contrast, hoped that the endorsement of billionaire Elon Musk would sway the conservative New Yorkers, who cast ballots in unusually large numbers in the city’s 2024 presidential election.

You really have no choice, according to Trump in a Monday social media post, “whether you like Andrew Cuomo personally or not.”

“I urge you to cast your vote for him and sincerely hope he does a fantastic job.” He can do it, Mamdani can’t!

Additionally, Cuomo has made unwavering efforts to win Republicans’ votes. In 2024, the Republican Party registered a representative of 4.7 million voters in New York.

Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa currently holds about 14% of the vote, which is close to Mamdani’s lead over the former governor.

How effective Trump’s campaign strategy would be if Mamdani were to win the election, despite his threats to also target city funding. Trump’s intervention, however, did little to avert some steadfast Sliwa supporters’ minds.

Trump’s endorsement does not affect my vote, I believe. According to Artemio Figuero, a 59-year-old city street cleaner, who spoke to Al Jazeera in Jackson Heights, Queens, “Sliwa is for the people, and I have faith in that.”

According to Figuero, who spoke about Sliwa’s leadership of the vigilante anti-crime Guardian Angels organization, “he was a protector of the neighborhood.”

Trump’s support, according to other Republicans who had long adapted to casting ballots outside of their party in the liberal-dominated local elections, was a positive, if not revolutionary, development.

Lola Ferguson, a 53-year-old registered Republican who had already planned to support Cuomo, told Al Jazeera in Mott Haven, “I like that Trump endorsed him.”

She said, “He is aware that Cuomo is a better choice for the city.”

Cuomo, on the other hand, has refuted Trump’s endorsement claims, citing Mamdani’s false label of a “communist” as a “bad Democrat” in favor of him.

Trump’s action, however, was not unexpected for Mamdani supporters. Many of the city’s richest residents, including billionaires Miriam Adelson and Bill Ackman, who also back Trump, have supported Cuomo.

Andre Augustine, a 33-year-old employee of a college access nonprofit, who voted for Mamdani, said that “birds of a feather flock together.”

“I believe the indicators were already in place. I believe that Cuomo simply wouldn’t be open about it because all those who were funding Trump’s campaign were also doing it, he said.

Trump’s endorsement, in the opinion of some, was the icing on the cake.

Although Dominique Witter, a healthcare tech consultant, applauded Cuomo’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in the city, he had gradually shifted to Mamdani.

She didn’t make a decision until the race’s final sprint.

As she prepared to cast her ballot in Mott Haven, she said, “It took me a while to get there, but I’m voting for Mamdani.”

“I’m not going to lie,” Trump’s endorsement was ineffective. Because that’s not what we want, don’t we? she stated.

Source: Aljazeera