Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is running for mayor of New York City this year, said he plans to campaign nationally against President Donald Trump’s policies, which he believes could aid Democrats across the country.
Cuomo is the front-runner in the race, with Zohran Mamdani, a member of the Democratic Party and the Democratic Socialists of America, catching up to the former governor in the polls in recent weeks. Cuomo indicated he plans to campaign against Trump’s proposed Medicaid changes to help Democrats in swing House districts.
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When asked by Politico about what leverage he would have should he be elected mayor, Cuomo zoomed out.
“I would spend eight years in Washington — go to that U.S. Conference of Mayors, go to the National Governors Association,” he told the outlet. “He’s cutting Medicaid. Medicaid is not a blue-city, blue-state situation. That is in every state. That is a lot of red congressional districts. And he could lose the House on cutting Medicaid if you organized it and got it moving.”
“You’re going to have to be a spokesperson, advocate, organizer,” he added. “This is what Medicaid means in Mississippi, this is what Medicaid means in Texas … And you organize that, they don’t have a lot of congressional seats left to lose.”
Trump and his GOP allies in the House passed a number of large-scale changes to Medicaid, including work requirements for able-bodied people. The legislation will likely face major changes in the Senate.
“What is Medicaid going to mean in Lawler’s district?” Cuomo said in reference to Rep. Mike Lawler’s (R-NY) swing district. “But what is it going to mean nationally, is the way you really make a difference.”
Cuomo also noted he regretted his decision to resign as governor of New York in 2021 after multiple women accused him of sexual harassment. The former governor has spent much of the last four years out of the public eye.
“At the time, I thought that I would be a distraction to government functionality, that they would all be involved in impeachment proceedings, blah, blah, blah,” he told the New York Times. “Looking back, what has really been done in the past four years anyway, right?”
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“I was done. I was in the private sector, just enjoying life,” he said. “But then I was looking at what was happening in New York City. You saw Mayor Adams getting into trouble. You saw Trump coming. So, I’m worried about New York City.”
Should Cumuo win the mayoral race, however, there is a history of New York City mayors failing to amass more power on a national scale. Former mayors Rudy Giuliani, Mike Bloomberg, and Bill de Blasio all had failed runs for higher office.