As his hometown of New York votes for its next mayor, United States President Donald Trump has thrown his support behind Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat and former New York state governor who is standing as an independent this time.

The Republican president’s endorsement of Cuomo – who lost the Democratic primary to self-described democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani in June – came just hours before polling booths opened on Tuesday in the closely watched election.

Trump has called Mamdani, a Muslim immigrant who is campaigning on a promise to make New York more affordable for its residents via rent freezes and universal childcare, a “communist“. He has also threatened to withhold federal funds from New York City if Mamdani wins.

“I would much rather see a Democrat, who has had a Record of Success, WIN, than a Communist with no experience and a Record of COMPLETE AND TOTAL FAILURE,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Mamdani is currently leading in the polls with 46 percent support – a double-digit lead over Cuomo’s 32 percent. The Republican candidate, Curtis Sliwa, is trailing in third place at 16 percent. Trump discouraged voters from choosing Sliwa, saying: “A vote for Curtis Sliwa … is a vote for Mamdani.”

But will an endorsement from Trump help or hinder Cuomo’s already slim chances of winning the race?

Why did Trump endorse Cuomo?

Trump’s support for Cuomo, who stepped down as governor of New York in 2021 amid sexual misconduct allegations, appears largely driven by his opposition to Mamdani.

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Mamdani has denied Trump’s description of him as a communist.

In June, PolitiFact debunked claims that Mamdani is a communist. “Communism involves a centrally planned economy with no market forces. Prices and quantities are set by a central government authority. There is no democratic political competition, and instead a single party rules the country. He is not calling for any of this,” Stanford University Professor Anna Grzymala-Busse told PolitiFact.

However, Trump maintains that with Mamdani at the helm in New York, “this once great City has ZERO chance of success, or even survival!”

“I don’t want to send, as President, good money after bad,” he said, referring to his threat to withhold federal funding from New York City. “His principles have been tested for over a thousand years, and never once have they been successful.”

Trump’s outright backing of Cuomo follows his more tepid one in an interview on the CBS TV network’s 60 Minutes programme that was filmed at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Friday and aired on Sunday.

“I’m not a fan of Cuomo one way or another, but if it’s going to be between a bad Democrat and a communist, I’m going to pick the bad Democrat all the time, to be honest with you,” Trump said on the show.

“Whether you personally like Andrew Cuomo or not, you really have no choice. You must vote for him and hope he does a fantastic job,” Trump added. “[Cuomo] is capable of it. Mamdani is not!”

How has Cuomo responded to Trump’s endorsement?

The former governor has sought to distance himself from Trump’s comments.

“He didn’t say that. He didn’t say that. He did not say that,” Cuomo told reporters on Monday when asked about Trump’s comments on 60 Minutes.

He added: “Mamdani is not a communist. He’s a socialist. But we don’t need a socialist mayor either.”

Speaking to reporters in the Washington Heights neighbourhood, Cuomo said: “He [Trump] called me a bad Democrat. First of all, I happen to be a good Democrat and a proud Democrat, and I’m going to stay a proud Democrat.”

After Cuomo lost the Democratic primary race to Mamdani in June, Trump publicly urged him to stay in the race – and also reportedly spoke with Cuomo about his campaign.

Since then, however, Cuomo has emphasised that he has no allegiance to Trump and insisted he will do a better job of standing up to the president as New York mayor.

How has Mamdani responded to Trump’s Cuomo support?

Throughout his campaign, Mamdani has painted Cuomo as Trump’s choice for mayor, calling him a puppet of the president in deeply Democratic New York, and he was quick to react to Trump’s latest comments.

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“We’ve known since the primary that Andrew Cuomo was funded by the same billionaires that gave us Donald Trump’s second term. Even just until these final days, [Cuomo] denied that he was Donald Trump’s preferred candidate,” Mamdani said in an interview with CNN late on Monday.

“But now it’s written out for the entire world to see,” Mamdani said, adding: “This is the man that Donald Trump wants to be the next mayor of New York City and not because he’ll be good for New Yorkers but because he’ll be good for Donald Trump, and New Yorkers are exhausted of this agenda in Washington.”

Mamdani’s campaign has also highlighted that Cuomo received an endorsement from Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and once a staunch ally of Trump.

Mamdani also responded to Trump’s threat to restrict funds for New York if he wins. “It’s not Donald Trump’s to decide which city or state will get what money,” the Democratic candidate said. “This is the money that New Yorkers are owed, and this is the money that we’re going to fight for.”

Mamdani, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, has campaigned for universal free childcare, free public buses and a rent freeze for New Yorkers.

“He is spending $300m remodelling a White House ballroom, the same amount of money that could provide SNAP [food assistance] benefits for 100,000 New Yorkers,” Mamdani said, taking a dig at the president.

Will Trump’s support work in Cuomo’s favour?

Trump lost the vote in New York City himself by wide margins in all three presidential runs he has made since 2016.

But compared to 2016 and 2020, he dramatically shrank the margins in 2024, winning more than 30 percent of the vote – the first time any Republican has since 1988.

An overview of Cuomo’s performance in the Democratic primary this year shows an overlap in his support and the neighbourhoods where Trump won votes in his 2024 presidential run, including parts of southern Brooklyn, Staten Island’s North Shore and sections of Queens, particularly with older, working-class and Orthodox Jewish populations.

So in theory, Trump’s support could bolster Cuomo’s chances in some of these neighbourhoods.

Could a Trump link hurt Cuomo?

But Trump’s backing could also prove a double-edged sword for Cuomo.

Overall, the city leans heavily towards Democrats, so it is no surprise that Mamdani’s campaign has consistently been projecting Cuomo as a proxy for Trump.

Cuomo did especially well in the primary against Mamdani in neighbourhoods with large Black and Hispanic communities.

But while Trump made major gains with both communities in 2024, his support among Black Americans and Hispanic Americans has dropped since. Trump’s plans to arrest and deport immigrants have disproportionately hurt Latino communities across the US.

Could Sliwa voters switch allegiance?

Polls suggested Mamdani may struggle to cross the 50 percent threshold, but New York follows a first-past-the-post system, so whoever gets the most votes wins.

Sliwa has rejected repeated calls over the months to quit the race and instead rally his supporters behind Cuomo, who could close the gap with Mamdani if Sliwa supporters do switch sides.

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A Marist New York City poll last week – when Mamdani was leading with 48 percent support, Cuomo at 32 percent and Sliwa at 16 percent – also found that if Sliwa were to drop out of the race, Mamdani would receive overall support from 50 percent of likely voters compared with 44 percent for Cuomo.

In the past few weeks, Cuomo has also appealed to Republican supporters, saying a vote for Sliwa is a vote for Mamdani.