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Is mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo beholden to Donald Trump?

Brigid Bergin

Published Mar 26, 2025

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Former Governor Andrew Cuomo at a podium

Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images

Brigid Bergin

Published Mar 26, 2025

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This column originally appeared in The Politics Brief, our new weekly newsletter on the people, power and policies that shape New Yorkers' lives .

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Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo is riding a wave of good news, having surged to the front of the pack in the weeks since he entered the New York City mayor’s race.

But his critics are hoping to short-circuit his rise by accusing him of being soft on the Trump administration in order to avoid federal prosecution over Cuomo’s alleged mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sound like anyone else? The anti-Cuomo PAC New Yorkers for Better Leadership thinks so.

“New Yorkers rightly abandoned Eric Adams when they realized he would be a puppet of Donald Trump,” said Lauren Hitt, the group’s spokesperson, in a statement first shared with Gothamist. “Andrew Cuomo is no different, facing possible criminal charges from Trump’s Department of Justice for lying about his COVID record. And, Cuomo is clearly feeling the heat.”

The group is referring to testimony Cuomo gave before a Republican-led U.S. House select subcommittee investigating the COVID pandemic. The former governor testified in September that he did not remember reviewing a state health department report that officials say undercounted deaths in nursing homes in early 2020 – but the New York Times reported that he wrote parts of it.

A Republican congressmember from Ohio – no longer in office – referred the matter to the Department of Justice for prosecution last year. There’s no indication that any charges are coming, but Hitt argues that Cuomo will “do whatever Trump says he needs to do to stay out of prison, just like Mayor Adams.”

The sharp words come from a dark money group that says it’s composed of “concerned citizens dedicated to ensuring New Yorkers know the facts on Cuomo's record of mismanagement.”

New Yorkers for Better Leadership hasn’t disclosed its donors and Hitt — the former communications director for Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and spokesperson for the Kamala Harris campaign — declined to say who was supporting the PAC. Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi argued it’s made up of supporters of the former governor’s favorite foil: former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, with whom Cuomo feuded for nearly eight years.

“This is a desperate and frankly silly attack from the de Blasio PAC,” Azzopardi said. The former mayor has no known affiliation with the group.

Cuomo may have made himself an easy target by at first staying quiet on the Trump administration. But as his campaign heats up, he’s beginning to frame the president as a “major threat.”

“Nobody will fight him stronger. Nobody will fight him smarter because I did. And I have every day of COVID, day after day after day. And you know what? We're going to be able to handle President Trump,” Cuomo said at an event in Washington Heights on Sunday. “Don't you worry about it.”

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Gov. Kathy Hochul is once again asking the Trump administration to sign off on federal funding for the MTA. Here’s what the state is asking for.
Should people who show signs of severe mental illness be involuntarily hospitalized? The question is dividing NYC lawmakers.
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The trial of Nadine Menendez, wife of former New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez, began on Monday. Here’s what was said during opening statements.
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And Zellnor Myrie, another mayoral candidate, thinks expanding after-school programs will help more families stay in the city. Here’s why.
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andrew cuomo

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Brigid Bergin

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Brigid Bergin is an award-winning senior reporter on the People and Power desk. She is fiercely committed to telling stories that help people engage and support democracy. In 2022, she hosted a live, ten-week call-in politics show ahead of the midterm elections called The People's Guide to Power. Brigid's reporting in 2017 included some of the first coverage of a political newcomer now known as AOC. In 2016, she broke the news of a voter purge in Brooklyn just days before New York’s presidential primary, triggering city, state and federal investigations. Brigid also guest hosts The Brian Lehrer Show and All Of It. She graduated from the University at Albany and the CUNY Newmark School of Journalism. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or Signal 917-723-4719.

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