Curtis Sliwa uses a ‘Braveheart’ reference to explain why he won’t drop out of the NYC mayoral race

By David Wright, CNN

(CNN) — Curtis Sliwa, the Republican nominee for mayor of New York, can hardly believe the position he finds himself in.

“In the past few weeks, I feel like I’m watching an Eddie Murphy movie, ‘Trading Places,’” he said during a fiery appearance Wednesday morning on the New York radio station where he hosted a show before taking leave to run for mayor.

“Cuomo is on WABC all the time now,” he said, “while I’m out on the campaign trail, pinching babies, shaking hands. He’s become the radio guy; now I’m the politician.”

A longtime fixture in New York City politics, Sliwa now has a key role in one of the most consequential mayoral races in decades. Heading into the second general election debate Wednesday at 7 p.m., Sliwa is likely to be at the center of the discussion, even as he runs third in the polls.

Sliwa is the target of a frantic pressure campaign to drop out of the mayoral race from opponents of Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani who want to create a one-on-one matchup between Mamdani and independent candidate Andrew Cuomo. Among the people pressuring Sliwa is WABC owner John Catsimatidis, a top New York Republican and ally of President Donald Trump.

Trump, a Queens native himself, has all but written Sliwa off. Several of Sliwa’s former colleagues at WABC have urged him to drop out. And Cuomo on Monday predicted his “collapse.”

Sliwa, however, insists he will not exit. He colorfully maintained his defiance Wednesday, accusing former WABC colleagues of “stabbing” him in the back and vowing that he would never come back to the station.

Using another cinematic metaphor, Sliwa rejected any potential partnerships with Cuomo.

“Remember that scene in ‘Braveheart?’” Sliwa asked. “Mel Gibson at the end, when the executioner was impaling him? If all of a sudden, the executioner would’ve stopped, and I was on that gurney, and said, ‘Hey, you can work for Mayor Andrew Cuomo,’ I would say, ‘Finish the job. Impale me.’”

Mamdani, a self-described democratic socialist, has alarmed some moderate Democrats with his progressive ideas, past criticisms of police and relative lack of experience. Some Jewish voters are concerned about his criticisms of Israel and question his commitment to fighting antisemitism.

But the upstart progressive has been consolidating his support since the primary, opening a double-digit lead over Cuomo and Mamdani in public polling. He’s won the endorsements of several key Democrats, including New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, and met with Jewish groups and police officers as he tries to shore up perceived weaknesses.

Cuomo’s backers have watched with frustration and blame Sliwa for splintering the anti-Mamdani vote. The investor Bill Ackman, among the most vocal Cuomo proponents on social media, claimed that Mamdani “is actively working” to keep Sliwa in the race. Mamdani has mocked Ackman and dismissed that claim.

In tearing into Cuomo and the business interests backing him, Sliwa at times seems to echo Mamdani, the democratic socialist, with his sharp criticism of billionaires and elites. In an interview with the journalist Nate Friedman released over the weekend, the GOP nominee told Ackman to “stay in your lane.”

Sliwa’s Republican supporters in the city have signaled their intention to stand by the party’s nominee. On Tuesday ahead of the final debate, a collection of county Republican Party chairs – including Catsimatidis’ daughter Andrea, the Manhattan GOP chair – issued a joint statement affirming that “our party is united behind Curtis Sliwa.”

Previous Republican mayor Rudy Giuliani has also maintained his support for Sliwa and hosted the candidate on his own show. “Curtis Sliwa has my complete and total endorsement,” he said.

“The undecided ones, if this is like any other political situation, are going to break the same way, or they’re not going to vote,” Giuliani said Monday. “Remember, it’s a poll. And it’s not just they’re unfair to Trump, they are, that’s given. They’re also very often completely useless.”

And on WABC Wednesday, Sliwa dismissed hypothetical outcomes if he continued his campaign.

“To me they’re the same,” Sliwa said, when asked if he’d prefer Cuomo or Mamdani to become the next mayor. “First day of voting is on Saturday. I’m going to be there, before the polls open up, to cast my vote for Curtis Sliwa and every Republican downballot.”

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2025 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.