Put a sock in it, Eliot.
Ex-New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer claims today’s voters are more tolerant about supporting scandal-scarred candidates than when he resigned in an explosive hooker scandal in 2008 and futilely attempted a comeback five years later.
Spitzer — asked about voters being more forgiving after returning accused sex-assaulter President Trump to office and given the comeback mayoral candidacy of alleged sex-harasser former Gov. Andrew Cuomo — told Vanity Fair in a rare interview, “This will sound odd coming from me perhaps, but unfortunately, yes, probably.
“I think voters are a bit calloused now to the personal failings of candidates,” said the 66-year-old disgraced pol — who allegedly liked to keep on his black dress socks, and nothing else, while dallying with his favorite hooker as “Client No. 9.”
“And so, a bit more tolerant, or they look to other issues to determine their vote,” he said of today’s constituents. “Some of the issues that were outcome-determinative 15, 20, 30 years ago no longer are.”
Spitzer, also the state’s former attorney general, lost in a comeback bid for city comptroller in 2013.
But if voters are more forgiving, their largesse hasn’t extended to Anthony Weiner, the former Queens congressman and convicted sexting perv who lost his comeback bid for City Council in June.
Cuomo, who has denied all of the allegations against him, was state attorney general when Spitzer was governor. He is currently running to unseat Big Apple Mayor Eric Adams.
Spitzer let it be known that he and Cuomo had a strained relationship when asked what advice he’d give voters who are considering voting for Cuomo as an independent in the general election against lefty Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani, incumbent Adams, also running as an independent, and Republican Curtis Sliwa.
“How many hours do you have?” Spitzer told Vanity Fair’s Chris Smith with a chuckle. “Look, I think it’s been chronicled. He and I are not drinking buddies.”
Spitzer is a real-estate developer who owns Spitzer Enterprises, a firm started by his late father, Bernard. He bluntly said Mamdani’s proposal to freeze rents will hurt the housing market.
“Look, Mamdani is absolutely right, affordability is the issue. I happen to think his answer is not one that will solve the problem. Freezing rent won’t do it, unfortunately,” Spitzer said.
“What it will do is inhibit capital inflow and lead to the significant deterioration of our capital stock. And that’s not going to be good for the city.”
But Spitzer, a multimillionaire, said he wouldn’t leave the city if Mamdani gets his wish to raise taxes on the rich if elected mayor.
But he said he has concerns about whether taxing the wealthy more is a good idea.
“No, a 2% shift shouldn’t make people leave. On the other hand, there is data that a significant number of wealthy taxpayers have left,” Spitzer said.
“And it is also a reality that a very significant piece of the tax receipts of the city come from that upper strata. But I think the other part of the equation is, if you’re going to raise taxes, the quality of life in the city has to improve commensurate with that. You can’t become the San Francisco model,” he said, referring to the struggling lefty city.
He was asked about his favorite Donald Trump story, since they crossed paths over the years in real estate circles.
“None of them is a favorite. Trump used to come over to my dad’s office and talk about real estate,” Spitzer said. “One time, Trump left my dad’s office, and my dad said, `He has not read a book in 30 years.’ Which was fine and kind of irrelevant as long as Trump was just a real estate developer, right?
“But when he’s the president of the United States, the lack of understanding of either history or society or broader social issues is … problematic,” Spitzer said of Trump, who has also denied allegations of sex crimes.
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