State GOP stung by Trump-Mamdani timing
AI-generated images posted on Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman's Facebook page showing Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the Nassau County executive. Credit: Facebook
With less than six weeks left to elections in New York, more odd twists are possible. But this week’s September surprise is a doozy.
President Donald Trump renewed his public bromance with Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Monday.
And it gave Republicans here a sense of vertigo, having centered their campaigns on slamming all Democratic candidates as willing tools of the left-wing New York City mayor.
Visiting Gracie Mansion, the elegant mayoral residence, Trump said he wants Mamdani to be a “great mayor — and he’s certainly got potential, great potential.”
What’s at work here?
Probably nothing substantial. The president cherishes his photo ops, especially against a grand backdrop and so many cameras, no matter with whom. Many a Trump insider would downplay this little summit as a diplomatic charm offensive — even if rank-and-file Republicans in New York see it as more offensive than charming.
Last year, Trump called Mamdani a “total nut job” and a “100% communist lunatic” and said New Yorkers would be crazy to elect him. Then again, think of all the people Trump once condemned who joined his
Cabinet.
Seeing the videos and stills of the two pols together, it’s hard to believe the event was about a productive arms-length discussion of housing or continuing Temporary Protective Status for Haitians as advertised.
The president at one point was literally backslapping the mayor. It was their third meeting since Mamdani’s election, with the first two at the White House.
Former Rep. Peter King, a Republican elder and paid consultant to Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, criticized the meeting as disrespectful, having been held on Yom Kippur. Blakeman is challenging Gov. Kathy Hochul who endorsed Mamdani last year after he won the Democratic primary.
Trump, the national Republican boss, has thus made his messaging clash with that of Blakeman, who wants to be the state’s Republican boss.
Step by step, ad by ad, policy by policy, appearance by appearance, Blakeman proves himself a Trump soldier and sycophant. Blakeman’s responses to Trump’s stop at Gracie sounded weak and less than independent. Blakeman said his positions and those of Hochul and Mamdani remain “diametrically apart.”
Nasty demonizations of the mayor are a staple in GOP mailings in many Long Island races.
Hochul seemed somewhat amused at a news conference at the question of why she wasn’t invited to Gracie. She said she’s had her own access to Trump and spoken with him by phone — urging him in part not to void TPS for Haitians.
GOP operatives were more concerned. “It’s a total nightmare,” one state Republican told Politico. “This destroys whatever campaign Bruce Blakeman had for governor.”
Other Republicans feared potential damage to the GOP in the midterms nationwide. After the meeting, Mamdani was interviewed on CNN where he smoothly said he and Trump share “a love of New York City” and he focuses in conversations on making life better in the five boroughs while objecting to federal actions with which he disagrees.
One Democrat, who preferred anonymity, seemed to think the meeting was a brief boost for both Trump and Mamdani.
On Thursday, Trump and first lady Melania Trump are hosting a White House state dinner for Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan at the White House. It could be another Mamdani moment — only with Trump hosting an actual communist.
Columnist Dan Janison’s opinions are his own.
Dan Janison is a member of the Newsday editorial board.
