CNBC Transcript: NYC Mayoral Candidate (I) & Former NY Governor (D) Andrew Cuomo Speaks with CNBC’s “Squawk Box” Today

WHEN: Today, Thursday, July 24, 2025

WHERE: CNBC's "Squawk Box"

Following is the unofficial transcript of a CNBC interview with NYC Mayoral Candidate (I) & Former NY Governor (D) Andrew Cuomo on CNBC's "Squawk Box" (M-F, 6AM-9AM ET) today, Thursday, July 24. Following are links to video on CNBC.com: https://global-deals.online/video/2025/07/24/watch-cnbcs-full-interview-with-former-new-york-governor-andrew-cuomo.html%3C/a%3E and https://global-deals.online/video/2025/07/24/former-new-york-gov-andrew-cuomo-zohran-mamdani-can-be-beaten-in-a-two-person-race.html%3C/a%3E.%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EAll references must be sourced to CNBC.

ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: Now time for a very big interview this morning. July, usually a little early to focus on New York's mayoral race, but not this year. It's become a national spectacle as a controversial Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani leads in the polls and the prediction market. Former New York governor and independent candidate for mayor, Andrew Cuomo, is with us here live this morning at the table here in Times Square. Good morning to you, sir.

ANDREW CUOMO: Good to be with you.

SORKIN: Look, we've had so many business leaders come on this broadcast and say, what is going on? They don't love Mamdani. That was a surprise, I think, for a lot of New Yorkers. And yet, he clearly is ahead in the polls, won the primary, beat you, beat the current mayor. I think the question now, as you decide to stay in this, what are you -- what do you need to do differently? What can you do differently than you were doing before?

CUOMO: Yeah. Good question. And at first, frankly, in the primary, I made some strategic mistakes. I had a big lead. So, I basically played prevent defense and I wasn't aggressive enough in the campaign. I didn't debunk his ideas. I didn't put forth my affirmative agenda strongly enough. Then on election day, we had an explosion of these under 30-year-old Bernie, socialist type, anti-Israel type voters that no one had seen before in history. The proportion that they voted. So that's what happened in the primary. We now go to a general. The general is a different audience. It's a different electorate. It's bigger. It's more moderate. It's more Queens, outer borough. You have independents, you have Republicans voting. So, it's a totally different ball game in the general.

SORKIN: Okay. Play the math out though, because we have a lot of folks who like to do math here, who watch our broadcast, and a lot of people who are thinking about who they want to put money behind. And right now, they're looking at you. They're looking at Mayor Adams, by the way. They're looking at Sliwa, like, there's a couple -- and there's a view that if all of you are in there, you're just going to effectively give -- give votes to effectively Mamdani or to the other. So, if you -- if Adams comes out, for example, and you stay in, what happens? Meanwhile, if you get out and Adams goes in, what happens?

CUOMO: Yeah. Well, I think that's the bottom-line question, right? A multi-candidate field favors Mamdani because he's a -- he's a socialist on the Democratic line. I'm a Democrat on an independent line, right, because politics is all upside down in this country right now. But you have a lot of people who kneejerk go to the Democratic line, right? About 70 percent of the voters are Democrats in the general election, and he'll be on the Democratic line. So, multi-candidate field favors him. If you get down to a two-person race, certainly, he can be beaten. Polls show I beat him now in a two-person race, but that means the field would have to winnow down.

SORKIN: Which polls show that? Because we also have looked at Calsci and Polymarket, which are which are these prediction markets, that put him in a significant lead almost invariably.

CUOMO: Yeah. The prediction markets do. HarrisX poll came out a couple of days and shows that I beat him in a one-on-one race. But the question is, how do you get there, right?

BECKY QUICK: To a one-on-one race?

CUOMO: Right. And Governor Paterson, former governor of New York, few others made a proposal that makes total sense in my mind. That is, come September, who's ever stronger basically, between me and Adams, that candidate should go forward. The other one should defer.

QUICK: September 1st, September 30th?

CUOMO: Mid-September is what they were talking about, because then you really have to gear up for the November race. There's a Republican who would be in the race, but I think you could win with three. With four, it gets very hard.

QUICK: But we had Eric Adams on this show, and he said -- when I asked him about it, you know, he was a little chagrined that you asked him if he was going to get out of the race. He said, "I'm the incumbent mayor. You've already lost to Mamdani." Make the argument for why it should be you instead of him.

CUOMO: Because he's unelectable. You know he did not -- he dropped out of the Democratic primary, Mayor Adams, because he's just not competitive in the Democratic primary. And this -- this goes way back, right? This is before he was indicted, before the whole President Trump pardon -- conditioned the pardon, whatever that was. He just -- New Yorkers had turned on him, on his management of the city, the ongoing corruption. So, he entered the Democratic primary, then dropped out because Democrats, especially after his transaction with President Trump, a very negative on him. So, he could run in a Democratic primary. But Democrats are 70 percent in the general, and you can't win writing off 70 percent. But it's not -- you don't have to decide that now. In September, the proposal is who's ever stronger goes forward. I have said that if I'm not the stronger candidate between myself and Adams, I will defer because I think it's that important to beat Mamdani. And the inverse I think -- it should also be true. Otherwise, you stay in, you're just a – you're saying, I can't win, but I'm going to make sure Mamdani wins.

SORKIN: Let me ask you this -- when success has come from what arguably was the sort of affirmative message that he was going to deal with affordability. Now, whether he can deal with the things the way he's described, I think is a real question mark, if not impossible in truth. Having said that, I would argue that you made an argument about experience and the experience being also that you were not the current mayor, right? I mean, at the time, I think there was sort of a view, current mayor was in trouble. I'm not him. Vote for me. By the way, we saw this play out in the presidential election. Kamala Harris and Biden said, I'm not Trump. If you don't like Trump, vote for me. What do you think is the affirmative message beyond the experience piece for what you can do to the city?

CUOMO: Yeah. Look, I think the problem with New York City has been twofold. Number one, you've had an incompetent government. Basically, since Mayor Bloomberg, that's 12 years, where you just haven't had a competent mayor in charge. Second, in this city, you've had this shift to far-left politics that has paralyzed the government. So, it's anti-development. You can't build. It takes four years to get a building permit in New York City. I built LaGuardia airport in four years, right? This anti-development bureaucracy, incompetence, anti-public safety, defund the police leftist movement. And I used to say when I was HUD secretary, look, a city is either growing or it is dying, right? And New York is all about development. It's all about growth. It's about pro-business. It's about entrepreneurship. How much—

SORKIN: Do you worry that that's not what the city is about right now? I mean, what is this -- what is this past vote about Mamdani say about the city? What does it say about the Democratic Party? Just by the way, the big shift in the way the Democratic Party across the country has moved? I mean, look, you were supported and endorsed by the Clintons for whatever. You know, for better or worse, it often feels that the Clintons are now out of favor. It feels the Democratic Party is a different party today.

CUOMO: No, there's no doubt this is a microcosm for what's going on across the nation. And I think with President Trump, you've had this far right movement, and now you have this corresponding extreme left movement. I don't think either are productive, frankly. But Mamdani basically runs as a socialist. Not basically, he runs as a socialist, right? And not a dress up socialist. He's a genuine socialist. Sold -- everything is free. Free education, free food, free this, free that.

SORKIN: By the way, just said, there was an article that just came out says that -- where he said capitalism is theft.

CUOMO: Yeah.

SORKIN: That's fascinating thing to say.

CUOMO: No, he is anti-capitalism. And he is -- has been -- it's not just for this campaign -- he's purely a socialist.

SORKIN: But do you believe there are enough Democrats who believe that capitalism is theft in the city.

QUICK: In the city, and in the nation? Because this is a much bigger issue for the Democratic Party?

CUOMO: Well, that's -- you're exactly right. First of all, you can't have a socialist city in a capitalist nation. That does not work, right? You can't have a city where you say everything is free, we're going to have hyper-taxed wealthier people and expect them to stay here, right? They'll move. They'll leave. They have been leaving, right? Especially post-COVID, they're more mobile. So that's what he is selling. Now, he's a smooth salesman and he's got slick slogans, freeze the rent and fast free buses. And, you know, politics has become so superficial now. And my fault, my campaign didn't really push him on it. And the Middle East issue was very big with those under 30 voters. So that's what happened in the primary. I do not believe in the general election, you can sell that.

SORKIN: Right.

CUOMO: We are not socialists, right? Even in New York, we are not socialists. Even Democrats, we are not socialists. And they get it. You know, New Yorkers are savvy. Everything free -- you know, if it sounds too good to be true, it's probably not. There is no free lunch. They get it. But we have to have that dialogue.

SORKIN: You said the Middle East situation played a role in this. And I hear from business leaders all the time about what they fear, not just about the socialism piece, but what they think of as antisemitism coming from Mamdani, or a sense that he would allow antisemitism to flourish in the city. So, let me start with a very basic question. Do you think he's an antisemite?

CUOMO: You know, Andrew, that -- that requires the ability to look into someone's soul. Are you antisemitic? Are you racist? Or are you a bigot? I can tell you this, he fuels antisemitism. I mean something as basic as globalized intifada, which basically says "kill Jewish people globally," period. He refuses to condemn that statement. Most, he will say, if they're getting pushed and pushed and pushed -- well, I'll discourage the use of it. He doesn't believe in Israel as a Jewish state. I mean, these are very basic things, and this has been core to who he is. We have the largest Jewish population outside of Israel.

SORKIN: Right.

CUOMO: And we have some of the highest level of antisemitic activity in the United States of America. So, yeah, people are scared, and they should be.

SORKIN: Do you feel that you're running against him or Eric Adams in this moment right now?

CUOMO: It is against Mamdani. I do not believe Eric Adams is electable. I think all the data shows that. I think him not getting into the Democratic primary shows that by his own actions. You know, if you can't run in the primary, you can't be competitive in the general.

QUICK: You raised a lot of money before the primary. How is that going now? How are you able to raise money from big donors?

CUOMO: I am, but I tell you the truth, one of the lessons I learned, I spent too much time raising money in the -- in the primary. People know who I am. They know my message. It took a lot of time because in New York City, you have very low levels of donations. So, you have to do a high volume of fundraisers. And that took a lot of time. And I'm focusing now more on just getting out, getting the message out.

QUICK: Do you get additional voters to register the way Mamdani does, and if so, who's the target audience?

CUOMO: We will register more voters, but by the natural movement now in the general is you have a much larger pool. And I believe Mamdani, the way he activated the under 30, he's also going to activate the people out there who are afraid of an antisemitic socialist—

QUICK: So, we had something like a million votes in the primary. The last general was only 1.1 million. You think it's going to be a much higher turnout?

CUOMO: Yes. You had a higher primary turnout than usual. I think you're going to have a much higher turnout than usual, because don't kid yourself. People are afraid of him.

SORKIN: Let me ask you—

CUOMO: He is radical.

SORKIN: Let me ask you about Adams, though. The track record of Adams is actually not bad, it's actually quite good. If you look at what's happened to the city over the last two years, I think people would say safety has become a lot better -- I mean, there's been a lot of metrics you could look at in a positive way. I think the big overhang on his candidacy is that a lot of people look at him and think that he is being held hostage by the White House, by the president, and what that means for the city. What do you think that means for the city?

CUOMO: Well, first, they don't get past your last point. Adams got indicted. He made an arrangement with the president, which is unprecedented, right? January 6th, he gave people a pardon. He said, go home. With Mayor Adams, he said, I am going to drop the charges so you can cooperate with my administration specifically when it comes to immigration policy, and the prosecutor reserved the right to bring the charges back. So, it looked like a transaction where Adams was bargaining for Adams, saying, drop the charges, I'll do what you want. And President Trump is not popular, decidedly not popular within the Democratic electorate. So that's point one, and that's fatal. Number two, there's been a series of corruption charges almost on a weekly basis, more supposed to be coming. And third, Andrew, I don't agree with you that people think the city is better, maybe marginally better. You know, murders and shootings are down. Thank you. But rapes are up, and robberies are up, and grand larceny is up. And homeless mentally ill people on the street that I'm afraid of. And the subways and the condition of the subways. So, no, New Yorkers are not going to vote for another four years like the past four years.

SORKIN: OK. Somebody made a fascinating argument to me about Eric Adams and his relationship with the president as it relates to being a positive for the city. I want to posit it with you. We have not seen in this city ICE arrests and raids like we have seen in L.A. and Chicago and other cities. The National Guard has not been called in. And the question is why is that not happening in this city? There is a speculative view that that's not happening because the president doesn't want it to happen to protect him. Do you think that's true? And do you think if you win or Mamdani wins or somebody else wins, that all of a sudden, the city is going to turn into some kind of National Guard, ICE raid scenario?

CUOMO: Well, there's two theories, neither of which works ultimately. First theory is the president doesn't have to send in anyone because he has Adams doing his immigration work, right? Adams is in lockstep with honing in his whole immigration team. So of course, the president doesn't have to send anyone in because he owns the New York City mayor who is executing Trump's policy, which is opposed by the Democrats. Second option, President Trump has recently said, I'm sending in people. He had Homeland Security Kristi Noem come in here just yesterday or the day before, and was adamant that they had to send in federal troops. So, you know, with the president, you're not really sure which way it turns out. But neither is good. Neither Adams is the proxy for President Trump. That's the kiss of death among Democrats, and Democrats are, again, 70 percent of the electorate. Or the president winds up sending the troops like L.A. and that's even going to be worse, because then you'll see the Democrats just explode.

SORKIN: Have you met Mamdani, by the way?

CUOMO: I -- on the debate stage.

SORKIN: But that's it?

CUOMO: Yes. He's been an assemblyman. He's 33 years old. He passed three bills. He was basically a non-entity in the Albany legislature. He was basically absent. And this is what he does. He's an act -- social activist, advocate, smooth salesman, slick slogans and left unchallenged. They buy it, right? It's the infomercial that comes on at 3:00 in the morning. One pill, lose weight, increase your libido. Live to 100 years old. Order now. Get two more free.

SORKIN: And finally, what's your relationship like with Eric Adams? So -- because you guys are going to have to get on the phone at some point, I assume come September, and there's going to have to be a decision made about who's going to, you know, take the torch and keep going?

CUOMO: Yeah. But I think that's that is what it's going to be, Andrew. You know he's out there campaigning. I'm out there campaigning. Do the research whenever you want in September, first week, middle of September. Who has a better shot against Mamdani? That is a quantitative question. You can figure it out. And if you believe that it's really about stopping Mamdani, which I genuinely do, then do what's in the right interest of the city and the strong man goes ahead. The other person defers. Otherwise, you're just a spoiler, and you're driving the car off the cliff with the family inside the car.

SORKIN: Governor Cuomo, thank you for joining us this morning.

CUOMO: Thanks for having me.

SORKIN: Fascinating conversation. Come on back as this progresses. We appreciate it.

CUOMO: Pleasure.

SORKIN: Thank you.