SAT . Today’s cover: Obama refuses to endorse radical NYC mayoral front-runner Mamdani — even after publicly backing this previous mayor
Former President Barack Obama talked with mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani by phone Saturday but withheld endorsing him — after publicly backing even widely ridiculed Mayor Bill de Blasio in 2013.
The Democratic ex-prez was just across the Hudson River at a last-minute rally for New Jersey Dem gubernatorial candidate Mikie Sherrill at Essex County Community College in Newark on Saturday, but he didn’t venture into New York City to lobby for the party’s mayoral hopeful in person — much less throw his public support behind him before Tuesday’s election.
Mamdani campaign adviser Patrick Gaspard, who served as director of White House Office of Political Affairs and US Ambassador to South Africa under Obama, futilely tried to downplay the former president’s lack of endorsement as one of the race’s latest polls showed Mamdani foe Andrew Cuomo closing in.
“President Obama doesn’t endorse in local races. That’s a longstanding rule post-presidency,” Gaspard claimed to The Post. “He endorses in general election races for federal office and governors. His call to Zohran is a huge boost at a critical moment and a signal to New Yorkers.”
But Obama’s so-called endorsement “rule” is apparently plenty bendable.
In fact, the 44th president has endorsed numerous candidates for mayor over the years, including the unpopular de Blasio.
Other mayoral candidates endorsed by Obama also included beleaguered Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, as well as her predecessor Eric Garcetti, and former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel, who later served as Obama’s White House Chief of Staff.
The former prez has even waded into mayoral contests in smaller cities, endorsing Rick Kriseman for mayor of St. Petersburg, Fla., and Caroline Simmons for mayor of Stamford, Conn.
Mamdani spokeswoman Dora Pekec meanwhile tried to equally explain away the non-endorsement in a statement to The Post.
“Zohran Mamdani appreciated President Obama’s words of support and their conversation on the importance of bringing a new kind of politics to our city,” Pekec said of the pair’s phone call.
But Republican strategist Rob Ryan said, “Even Barack Obama realizes Mamdani is bad for New York and the Democratic Party.
“Obama is trying to protect other Democrats from the stain of supporting a communist for mayor in America’s greatest city,” Ryan said.
Veteran political consultant Hank Sheinkopf, who worked on Democrat Bill Clinton’s presidential re-election campaign, added to The Post, “Obama is being very careful.
“An Obama endorsement of Mamdani could be used against Democrats across the country next year in close elections when they’re trying to back the House.”
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Far-left politicians such as New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders have been on the campaign trail with Mamdani, but mainstream Dems including Obama have conspicuously avoided throwing their support behind the radical Democratic Socialist.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) have declined to endorse anyone in the contentious mayor’s race, and Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries only publicly backed Mamdani on Oct. 24, a day before early voting in the city began.
New York Rep. Tom Suozzi, a moderate Democrat, even announced he was backing former Gov. Cuomo — a Dem who is now running as an independent after Mamdani’s stunning primary victory.
“I’m a Democratic Capitalist, not a Democratic Socialist. I endorse Andrew Cuomo,” Suozzi said in a social-media post.
“I can not back a declared socialist with a thin resume to run the most complex city in America,” Suozzi said of Mamdani.
In addition to the 34-year-old Mamdani’s lack of executive experience, he once backed the controversial “Defund the Police” movement and has pledged to raise taxes on businesses and wealthy New Yorkers to help fund his socialist agenda, which includes city-run grocery stores and free buses, the latter of which critics have warned would be magnets for drug users.
Mamdani still leads Cuomo by 6.6 percentage points with 72 hours to go until Election Day, but it represents the slimmest edge he’s had since July.
According to a new AtlasIntel poll released Saturday, Mamdani is in the lead with 40.6%, compared to 34% for Cuomo and 24.1% for Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa.
But the latest RealClearPolitics aggregate currently has Mamdani ahead by an average of 14.5%, leaving him well-positioned to be named the Big Apple’s next mayor.
