Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Thursday claimed that he had run a “fully positive” campaign in his Democratic primary race against Cynthia Nixon — a statement one of her top aides later mocked as a fantasy.
Cuomo again called a mailer that branded Nixon an anti-Semite “a mistake” and argued that he had been a veritable Boy Scout throughout the bitterly contested race even as he appeared to defend the mailer.
“Israel is an important issue. There is strong support for Israel and there are strong opinions about Israel,” he told reporters after voting in Westchester County.
“The mailer was a mistake. I said that as soon as it came to light, as soon as I saw it. I ran this campaign fully positive. I didn’t say a negative word about my opponent,” he said, repeating his claim that he was in the dark about the mailer.
Team Nixon pounced on his remarks.
“Governor Cuomo was bitter and divisive until the very end,” said Senior Campaign Strategist Rebecca Katz in a statement.
“Rather than apologize to Cynthia for his false anti-Semitic accusations, or apologize to New Yorkers for repeatedly lying about the mailer, Governor Cuomo chose to double down on his dirty politics. This is what he’s done his whole life. This is exactly who he is.”
Nixon has hammered Cuomo for failing to address New York City’s beleaguered subways and for not following through on pledges to address corruption.
She’s called the incumbent a bully and said she represents a wave of liberals eager to take a greater role in American politics.
“Together, we can show the entire country that in the era of Donald Trump, New Yorkers will come together and lead our nation forward,” Nixon wrote Wednesday in a final message to supporters.
Cuomo has mounted a formidable defense, touting liberal accomplishments such as gun control, free public college tuition and a higher minimum wage.
While Cuomo rarely mentions the former “Sex and the City” actress by name, his campaign has slimed Nixon as “unhinged.”
He’s spent millions on ads and tried to make the race about President Trump, arguing that he was the best qualified to govern and push back against the White House.
Polls show Cuomo has a commanding lead, with the most recent survey, from Siena College, suggesting he was more than 40 percentage points ahead in the race’s final days.
Nixon argues that recent upset victories should make anyone cautious about the accuracy of polls.
She points to Democratic Socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s primary victory over longtime Congressman and Queens party boss Joe Crowley as evidence that underdog challengers can defy the odds.
Nixon, meanwhile, is hoping several recent missteps by Cuomo and his campaign come back to bite him.
The governor was mocked for saying America “was never that great” during remarks criticizing Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan.
Cuomo also claimed to have no knowledge of the Democratic Party mailer that questioned Nixon’s support for Jewish people — despite Cuomo’s control of the party and a recent $2.5 million contribution to its campaign operations.
Cuomo has the nomination of the Independence Party and the Women’s Equality Party, while Nixon has been nominated by the Working Families Party — though she has said she will seek to remove her name if she doesn’t beat Cuomo in the primary.
With AP
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