The White House slammed New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani after he linked the Trump administration to threats against voters in New Jersey.
On Tuesday, as New Jerseyans went to cast their ballots, bomb threats forced voters out of multiple polling places. While the threats were found to be non-credible, they still caused a disruption to those looking to exercise their right to vote for the Garden State’s next governor. When asked about the threats in his neighboring state, Mamdani made comments that raised eyebrows and rocked the West Wing.
Mamdani called the threats “incredibly concerning” and said that he believed they were “an illustration of the attacks we’re seeing on our democracy.”
“We have to understand this as part of the general approach the Trump administration has taken to trying to intimidate voters with baseless allegations of voter fraud as a means of trying to repress the voice of Americans across this country,” Mamdani said.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Mamdani’s remarks were “completely irresponsible” and not based in fact.
“I think they are completely irresponsible, and they are based on zero evidence. And I think this is just another example of how the Democrat Party unfortunately stands for nothing. All they stand against is President Donald Trump. And I think it’s quite sad to see that we have someone at the top of the ticket on an Election Day today saying such things about the president, when he obviously had absolutely nothing to do with those threats,” Leavitt said in response to a question from Fox News’ Jacqui Heinrich.
On Monday, Trump, who has been an outspoken critic of Mamdani, backed former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the mayoral race.
“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. He was nothing as an assemblyman, ranked at the bottom of the class and, as mayor of potentially, again, the greatest city in the World, HE HAS NO CHANCE to bring it back to its former glory!,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
TRUMP BACKS CUOMO AND THREATENS TO CUT FEDERAL FUNDING IF ‘COMMUNIST MAMDANI’ WINS NYC MAYOR RACE
“We must also remember this — A vote for Curtis Sliwa (who looks much better without the beret!) is a vote for Mamdani. 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. “He is capable of it, Mamdani is not!”
Trump, a native New Yorker, also said that if Mamdani were to win, it would be “highly unlikely that I will be contributing federal funds, other than the very minimum as required, to my beloved first home.”
Cuomo responded, saying that Trump “doesn’t support me,” but rather “he opposes Mamdani.”
“He believes that Mamdani is an existential threat to New York,” Cuomo added.
“The MAGA movement’s embrace of Andrew Cuomo is reflective of Donald Trump’s understanding that this would be the best mayor for him,” Mamdani said at a press event in New York on the eve of the election. “Not the best mayor for New York City, not the best mayor for New Yorkers, but the best mayor for Donald Trump and his administration.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Mamdani’s campaign for comment on Leavitt’s response.
Fox News Digital’s Emma Bussey contributed to this report.
