Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) was routed in a shock upset last month when Democrats rejected him in the primary for mayor of New York City, in favor of the young democratic socialist candidate Zohran Mamdani, who is running on a platform of freezing rent, expanding free bus service, and creating public grocery stores in food deserts.
After weeks of relative silence from Cuomo, however, he announced Monday that he is remaining in the race and will run on a separate party line in the general election, alongside scandal-plagued incumbent mayor Eric Adams and the pro-Trump Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa.
"Unless you've been living under a rock, you probably knew that the Democratic primary did not go the way I had hoped," said Cuomo in his announcement video posted to X. "To the 440,000 New Yorkers who voted for me, a sincere thank you. Thank you for believing in me, in my agenda, and in my experience. And I am truly sorry that I let you down. But as my grandfather used to say, when you get knocked down, learn the lesson and pick yourself back up and get in that game, and that is what I'm going to do."
Even before Cuomo's video dropped, reports that he would stay in the race had already drawn criticism.
"Andrew Cuomo an un-evolved desperate man searching for meaning in all the wrong places," wrote former New York state Sen. Alessandra Biaggi.
"True to form, Andrew Cuomo once again refuses to accept that no means no," wrote state assemblymember Phara Souffrant Forrest, referencing allegations of sexual misconduct against the former governor.
As soon as the video dropped, it was overshadowed in likes and shares by Mamdani, who replied to the post with a link to his campaign donation page.
"NO MEANS NO. Go away, you gargoyle faced bully," wrote state Sen. Gustavo Rivera.
"Translation: Cuomo is so desperate to prevent a rent freeze that he actually set foot on the streets of New York. Get this jabroni out of New York politics for good!" wrote the account for the activist network Adbusters.
"Took three weeks to edit out passersby shouting 'Go f--- yourself'" wrote satirical political cartoonist Eli Valley.
"Honestly, what do Democrats say about the purpose and utility of the primary process now?" wrote Bernie Sanders' political adviser and More Perfect Union founder Faiz Shakir. "In New York, we're yielding the entire 'process' over to billionaires' whims. Fight Oligarchy."
Watch Cuomo's announcement video below or at the link here.
