Maeve Bidonde, Staff Writer
This past week New York State Governor Kathy Hochul endorsed Zohran Mamdani in the New York City race for Mayor. After publicly endorsing Mamdani, President Trump took to Truth Social to condemn the choice. According to ABC 7 News Trump wrote that the endorsement was “a very bad one for New York City” and he went as far as to imply heavily that he would take federal funding away from New York because of it. The full post read “This is a rather shocking development, and a very bad one for New York City. How can such a thing happen? Washington will be watching this situation very closely. No reason to be sending good money after bad! President DJT” The phrase talking about not sending good money after bad implies a lack of federal funding in New York State.
According to The New York Times New York State is what is considered a “donor state”. That means that New York pays more than it receives in federal funding. This is the second donor state Trump has ruffled the feathers of since his inauguration in January.
Governor Hochul even wrote an op-ed in The New York Times and she mentions having multiple conversations with Mamdani that were frank in nature. She mentions that they share many priorities politically and even have some disagreeing priorities. She went as far as to write “And in light of the abhorrent and destructive policies coming out of Washington every day, I needed to know the next mayor will not be someone who would surrender one inch to President Trump” in defense of her choice to endorse Mamdani for Mayor.
She further adds “Mr. Mamdani and I will both be fearless in confronting the president’s extreme agenda — with urgency, conviction and the defiance that defines New York. And we must never allow Mr. Trump to control our city like the king he wants to be. Anyone who accepts his tainted influence or benefits from it is compromised from the start.” After that Trump hinted at watching the state closely and possibly revoking the state’s funding.
According to the ACLU it is illegal for the President to withhold federal funds without congressional approval. Congress has Power of the Purse not the President. Power of the Purse allows Congress to determine how and where federal funds are spent. Because of that, the insinuation of withholding federal funds from New York State is illegal unless he manages to get congressional approval for that. Governor Kathy Hochul’s reaction to the threats was to say that President Trump “inserting himself into our local election, trying to put his thumb on the scale and clearing the field for his designated choice” was what put the final nail in the coffin of endorsing Mamdani.
The Republican nominee for Mayor is Curtis Silwa and a spokesperson for his campaign said “The worst governor in America just endorsed the worst candidate for mayor. They deserve each other. New Yorkers see through the backroom politics and know Curtis Sliwa is fighting for them, not the insiders. Curtis will be mayor this year, Elise Stefanik will be governor next year, and the nonsense will finally end.” In response to the endorsement of Mamdani.
Leave a Reply