Vote for Zohran, now not the moron.
Andrew Cuomo greets Zohran Mamdani ahead of a mayoral debate at Rockefeller Heart, on October 16, 2025 in New York Town.
(Angelina Katsanis / Pool/ Getty Photographs)
Andrew Cuomo began his political lifestyles exploiting bigotry. Heâs now finishing it the similar sordid means.
In 1977, Cuomoâs father, Mario, used to be working for mayor of New York in opposition to Ed Koch, who used to be broadly and accurately rumored to be a closeted homosexual guy. Andrew Cuomo used to be reportedly the mastermind in the back of nasty nameless posters plastered all the way through town that instructed the voters to âVote for Cuomo, now not the homo.â (Cuomo has all the time denied accountability for the poster, a disavowal that only a few folks, together with Koch, took significantly.) This crude enchantment to prejudice failed. Koch soundly defeated Mario Cuomo. The tale of the posters continues to tarnish the legacy of the Cuomo circle of relatives.
Now, just about 50 years later, a Cuomoâthis time, Andrewâis as soon as once more working for New York Town mayor. And, as soon as once more, Andrew Cuomo is diving into the gutter.
The similar meanness of spirit that embraced bare homophobia in 1977 is now greater than keen to fan the flames of racism and Islamophobia in 2025. Cuomo has already misplaced the New York Democratic mayoral number one and, consistent with all to be had polling, is ready to be completely trounced through front-runner Zohran Mamdani in subsequent Tuesdayâs common election. In his desperation, Cuomo has long gone again to his acquainted playbook of grimy methods. Remaining Thursday, Cuomo seemed at the display of right-wing radio host Sid Rosenberg and mentioned, âGod forbid some other 9/11. Are you able to consider Mamdani within the seat?â Rosenberg, who had prior to now referred to as Mamdani a âterrorist,â replied through announcing, âYea, I may just. Heâd be cheering.â Cuomo laughed and mentioned, âThatâs some other drawback.â
Those feedback werenât unintended. Theyâre a part of a bigger message of bigotry embraced through Cuomo, his marketing campaign, and his maximum outstanding supporters. At the similar day because the interview, Cuomo used to be counseled through outgoing New York Town Mayor Eric Adamsâhimself so disgraced and discredited that he used to be pushed first from the Democratic number one after which from the race altogether. Adams, with Cuomo through his facet, mentioned, âNew York canât be Europe, other folks. I donât know whatâs mistaken with folks. You spot whatâs taking part in out in different international locations on account of Islamic extremism.â
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The former evening, Cuomoâs marketing campaign had in brief posted a hectic, ultra-racist AI-generated video that confirmed, as The New York Occasions notes, âMamdaniâs supporters as trespassers, home abusers, pimps, drug sellers and drunken drivers, and appearing a Black shoplifter in a kaffiyeh.â Within the video, a apparently Nineteen Seventies-era Black pimp displays the again of his van, which is full of younger, white intercourse staff. The video additionally displays Mamdani consuming rice along with his armsâa transparent invocation of a far-right anti-Mamdani trope that has surfaced all the way through the election.
The Cuomo marketing campaign disavowed the video, blaming it on a âjunior staffer.â However even after this disavowal, billionaire Invoice Ackman, one in every of Cuomoâs maximum outstanding supporters, who has spent $1.25 million at the race, praised the advert as âsomewhat of humorâ this is âprice an eye.â
Ackman isnât the one billionaire bigot lining up in the back of Cuomo. As Forbes reviews, 25 billionaires have donated a mixed general of no less than $22 million to Cuomoâs mayoral bid. Like Ackman, those billionaires appear to be the high promoters of Cuomoâs racist and Islamophobic technique. As Mamdani posted on Thursday, âItâs now not simply what Andrew Cuomo is announcingâitâs whoâs investment him. The one biggest donor to a pro-Cuomo SuperPAC is Airbnb cofounder/board member Joe Gebbia, who promotes vile and racist messages about immigrants.â
Why have Cuomo and his plutocratic supporters made up our minds to double down on racism? The most straightforward clarification is that theyâre racists themselves. Whilst this is virtually without a doubt true, the bigotry has a political and strategic size that is going past non-public psychology.
Cuomoâs technique is a manufactured from a definite worldview: the multiculturalism of concern. America is an especially pluralist society, this means that that one trail to energy is taking part in up team divisions with a view to divide and triumph over. In his vintage political learn about Nixon Agonistes (1970), Garry Wills presented a memorial portrait of one of the most smartest practitioners of the multiculturalism of concern, the overdue political strategist Kevin Phillips who used to be a key participant in finding the resentment of white ethnics to building up the Republican Birthday party. Phillips advised Wills that âthe entire secret of politicsâ is âunderstanding who hates who.â One instance, Phillips famous, used to be New York. âIn New York Town, for example, you are making plans from positive regulations of exclusion,â Phillips argued. âYouâllât get the Jews and the Catholics. The Liberal Birthday party used to be based right here for Jews opposing Catholics, and the Conservative Birthday party for Catholics preventing Jews. The similar more or less elementary choice must be made in nationwide politics.â
Identical to Phillips, Cuomo is obsessive about âunderstanding who hates who.â This explains the curious indisputable fact that the Cuomo marketing campaign has made the apparently opposite argument that Mamdani is simply too Muslim to be depended on through non-Muslims and in addition now not Muslim sufficient to earn the strengthen of pious Muslims.
Mamdani is an earthly Shia Muslim married to a Hindu. Guided through the philosophy of âunderstanding who hates whoâ the Cuomo marketing campaign has made the peculiar and repugnant choice to fan the flames of Sunni-Shia animosity.
On Wednesday, Cuomo posted an advert from a bunch referred to as Muslims Towards Mamdani. One of the most folks within the advert mentioned, falsely, that Mamdaniâs ânow not a Muslimâ however a âself-proclaimed Hindu.â
Right through Wednesdayâs mayoral debate, Cuomo explicitly attempted to create a wedge between Sunni and Shia Muslims, announcing, âTo Zohran, I consider you will have been a divisive pressure in New York, and I consider thatâs poisonous power for New York. Itâs with the Sunni Muslims whilst you say decriminalize prostitution, which is haram.â
If the Cuomo marketing campaign is in keeping with the multiculturalism of concern, Mamdani himself has taken the complete opposite tack, providing a pluralism of hope. A long way from seeing New Yorkâs variety as a call for participation to observe divide-and-conquer politics, Mamdani has introduced his message of financial populism to all communities, appearing specific adeptness through working advertisements in a large number of languages reminiscent of Hindi and Yiddish.
In July, Al Jazeera reported,
The federal government of New York state estimates that New Yorkers talk greater than 800 languages, and as many as 2.5 million battle with speaking in English. Mavens, alternatively, say Mamdani effectively used his talents in more than one languages to enchantment to electorate who incessantly arenât centered through mainstream election campaigns, highlighting coverage proposals focused on electorateâ largest issues, like affordabilityâŠ.
A number of the spaces Mamdani received through massive margins have been South Asian neighbourhoods reminiscent of Town Line, Ozone Park and Jamaica Hills; Latino neighbourhoods together with Corona, Washington Heights, Pelham Bay and Woodhaven; and Chinese language communities in Flushing, Chinatown and Bensonhurst.
Cuomo and Mamdani each know that New York is among the maximum ethnically and socially various towns on this planet. Cuomo has used this variety as the foundation of a politics of concern, whilst Mamdani has presented a politics of hope. Mamdani is a pluralist who speaks to electorate of their many languages, however with the similar message of financial populism to construct a extra cohesive society. Cuomo depends upon concern as a result of he has no sure message to supply.
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On Wednesday, Mamdani advised an interviewer: âThat is Andrew Cuomoâs ultimate moments in public lifestyles and heâs opting for to spend them making racist assaults.â That is an all too true epitaph. Cuomo had one final likelihood to make his lifestyles quantity to one thing greater than a cynical workout within the exploitation of bigotry. Itâs unhappy, however rarely unexpected, that he refused the chance to redeem his depressing profession.
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