NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump on Friday brushed off Curtis Sliwa, the New York City mayoral candidate from his own party, labeling him as “not exactly prime time” and mocking his fondness for cats. Meanwhile, Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani faces increasing calls for his opponents to bow out of the contest.
Trump has indicated that Mamdani, a 33-year-old state legislator and democratic socialist, is likely to claim victory against Sliwa, Mayor Eric Adams, and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo on November 4 unless there is consolidation among the challengers. The New York-born Republican believes that Cuomo might still have a fighting chance in a face-off.
During a Friday segment on Fox & Friends, Trump poured cold water on Sliwa’s aspirations for mayor, criticizing the candidate’s promise to populate the New York City mayor’s residence with rescued cats if elected.
“I’m a Republican, but Curtis is not exactly prime time,” Trump said bluntly.
“He wants cats to be in Gracie Mansion,” the president added. “We don’t need thousands of cats.”
Mamdani emerged as the frontrunner after securing a win over Cuomo in the Democratic primary. Cuomo is now competing as an independent, while Adams did not participate in the primary, affected by a now-resolved federal bribery investigation.
Polls conducted in early September by The New York Times and Siena University, as well as Quinnipiac University, indicated that voters prefer Mamdani over Cuomo, with Adams and Sliwa trailing behind.
According to the Quinnipiac poll, the lead Mamdani holds over Cuomo could tighten if Adams exits the race. The Times/Siena poll also suggested that if both Adams and Sliwa withdraw, Mamdani’s lead over Cuomo may diminish further.
A campaign spokesperson on Friday stressed that Adams has no intention of stepping down from office or abandoning his reelection bid — though confirmed he is commissioning a poll to gauge his support.
“He just wants to look at all factors,” said Todd Shapiro said. “There’s nothing on the table right now. He’s looking at polls just like he’s doing everything else.”
The mayor, he added, would have more to say on the polling itself next week.
“He’s still very popular,” Shapiro said. “He’s running on a record of success.”
Adams in recent weeks has sought to rebuff questions of whether he might accept an alternate job offer amid reports that he had been approached about potentially taking a role with the federal government.
In a radio interview Friday, Sliwa — the founder of New York’s Guardian Angels anti-crime patrol group — said Trump seems to be responding “to what people are telling him about me without really knowing much about me of late.”
“I would hope the president would revisit my history, not only with him but in this city,” Sliwa said on 710 WOR.
The outspoken New Yorkers rose to prominence in the late 1970s, but Sliwa has said they haven’t spoken in years, possibly because he’d been critical of Trump at times, both on his long running radio show and as a candidate.
In a follow up email, Sliwa also defended his love of cats, adding that “animal welfare” is among the issues “New Yorkers care about” that he hopes to focus on, if elected.
“New Yorkers care for people and for animals, and so do I,” he said. “I am proud of my wife, Nancy, who has devoted her life to fostering, caring for, and saving animals, and fighting for them when no one else would.”
Sliwa has sheltered a large collection of rescue cats in his Manhattan apartment and has noted that Gracie Mansion is far more spacious.
“We’ll be able to house unwanted cats and dogs right in the lawn, the great lawn they have,” he said recently on his radio show.
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