John Catsimatidis, the billionaire owner of WABC radio in New York, and former governor David Paterson recently criticized Curtis Sliwa, a former show host, for impulsively damaging his own mayoral campaign.
Sliwa, who ran as the Republican candidate, garnered only 7% of the votes in the recent election. Critics had previously suggested he should exit the race to bolster centrist Democrat Andrew Cuomo against the eventual winner, the radical Democratic Socialist Zoran Mamdani.
“I’m really disappointed in Curtis,” Catsimatidis stated during his WABC show, “Cats Roundtable.” He added that while he has known Sliwa for a long time and thinks he’s a nice person, he was still let down.
Catsimatidis had tried to convince Sliwa to withdraw from the race and support Cuomo instead, but Sliwa stood his ground.
Paterson echoed similar sentiments, saying, “He hasn’t talked about any real issues in recent weeks, just himself,” referring to Sliwa’s low vote share.
“Curtis needs to think about his words more carefully these days; he’s offended many people and it hasn’t helped his chances,” Paterson remarked.
Even President Trump, seen as the leader of the Republican Party, mentioned that Sliwa’s involvement only aids Mamdani, showing preference for “bad Democrats” over “communists.”
However, Sliwa dismissed the criticisms he has faced, arguing that Mamdani would have prevailed regardless of his presence since the Democratic candidate won just over 50% of the total votes.
“They really seem to struggle with basic math,” Sliwa said of Catsimatidis and Paterson. “If my voters had all backed Cuomo, Mamdani would have still come out on top. It’s disappointing; I’m owed an apology.”
Sliwa also declared that he wouldn’t return to WABC Radio, expressing that the station’s hosts have turned against him, aligning with Cuomo. He noted that he would not listen to WABC again, stating he prefers WOR radio. When asked how he felt about future job opportunities, Sliwa confidently replied, “I’m fine.”
