WASHINGTON — Possible 2028 presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg tore into former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and gushed over socialist Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani.
Buttigieg, who has previously praised Mamdani’s “extraordinary” campaign, stopped short of endorsing the far-left Democrat but commended his efforts to “bring people together.”
“I don’t live in New York, but I think he has the capacity to be a great mayor,” Buttigieg exulted to CNN.
“He [Mamdani], I think, right now, has been taking a lot of steps that are not just about winning, but about trying to bring people together, which is something that people didn’t see in him or expect from him earlier on in the campaign,” he added.
“I don’t think he needs me in order to win, but I think it’s a really important and exciting race to watch.”
The former Transportation Secretary, who now lives in Michigan and passed on a run for the state’s open Senate seat, has long tried to thread the needle between the far-left and more centrist factions of the Democratic coalition.
Scores of Democrats, such as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) have refrained from endorsing Mamdani. Others, such as House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) dragged their feet for months on an endorsement.
Buttigieg refrained from dissing Mamdani and instead directed his criticism at Cuomo.
“I mean, Andrew Cuomo has disqualified himself in so many ways, including morally, and that’s just one of many reasons why I think so many New Yorkers are going to vote for Mamdani,” he argued.
Buttigieg was seemingly referencing the sexual harassment accusations against Cuomo by multiple women — and the pandemic-era nursing home scandal.
“He doesn’t have a vote in this race and one would think he’d have a moral problem with a New York City with a diminished police force, a decriminalized sex trade, no jails, and a weakened education system that encourages mediocrity — and that’s exactly what Zohran Mamdani is running on,” Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi told The Post in response.
Cuomo has defended himself from the accusations by noting that five district attorneys looked at the claims and that several civil lawsuits against him have been dropped, while others are ongoing.
Election Day is Nov. 4.
Buttigieg has been coy about his 2028 ambitions, though he has ventured to key early states such as Iowa to test the ground there since departing the Biden administration.
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