Ex-President Bill Clinton on Sunday endorsed his former Housing secretary Andrew Cuomo in the Big Apple’s mayoral primary, describing the city as in “crisis’’ and his pal as a “competent leader.”
In a robocall released by Cuomo’s campaign, the Democratic former commander in chief urged New Yorkers to back the ex-governor in the Tuesday’s Dem showdown.
“The election will decide the next mayor of New York, and I urge you to vote for Andrew Cuomo,” Clinton said in the recorded message. “As president, I chose Andrew to be my secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and he never let me down.”
Clinton, 78 — who lives in tony Chappaqua in Westchester County — noted that Cuomo worked in his presidential administration on such issues as affordable housing and helping to stave off hate, including “discrimination, including against the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) and antisemitism,” he said.
The ex-president said Cuomo can fix what he called a city in “crisis.
“New York City is facing major challenges. There is a desperate need for affordable housing, homelessness is at a crisis level, and public safety must be restored,” Clinton said.
“It is imperative that New York chooses a mayor who has the ability, talent, and experience to do the job.
“He’s a fighter who knows how to make government work, and at a time when our basic rights are under assault, I know he’ll stand up and protect the people of this city,” he said of Cuomo, adding his Dem buddy has the ability to raise the “progressive standard.”
Cuomo, 67, responded to the endorsement with gratitude.
“I am honored to have the support of President Bill Clinton — a personal mentor, friend, and hero. His administration was one of the most accomplished in modern political history,” Cuomo said in the message.
Cuomo, who resigned in disgrace as governor in 2021 amid a slew of sexual-harassment allegations, is aiming for a political resurrection in his mayoral comeback bid. Cuomo has vehemently any accusation of wrongdoing.
Clinton similarly had a presidency rocked by scandal.
His Oval Office affair with then-22-year-old intern Monica Lewinsky led him to be impeached by the House for perjury and obstruction of justice — though he was acquitted by the Senate and never resigned.
Clinton’s endorsement of Cuomo comes just two days before the city’s Tuesday primary.
Democratic kingmaker and 84-year-old South Carolina Congressman Jim Clyburn endorsed Cuomo on Friday — as surging socialist contender Zohran Mamdani’s campaign garnered a mix of fresh condemnation and support.
In the city’s ranked-choice voting contest, Cuomo currently prevails 55% to 45% against Mamdani in a potential seventh round, according to a recent Marist College Institute for Public Opinion survey.
The poll indicated a big drop from a Marist poll conducted in May, when Cuomo led Mamdani 60% to 40% after all the other candidates were eliminated and second preference votes transferred to the two finalists.
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