Cuomo on LA Clashes: Trump Formula is 'Chaos' in Cities

Tensions flared in Los Angeles on the third day of anti-deportation protests, as demonstrators clashed with law enforcement while President Donald Trump and California Governor Gavin Newsom exchanged blame over the unrest and responsibility for restoring order.

The deployment of National Guard troops by Trump over the weekend, despite the objections of state and city officials, led to growing friction between local leaders and the administration. Newsom said he formally requested the White House rescind the “unlawful” order and return the troops to his command, warning it would only ramp up tensions. The governor said that California is going to sue the administration over the action.  Former NY Governor Andrew Cuomo, who is now running for NYC Mayor, says the conflict and protests in Los Angeles ultimately helps President Trump who wants 'chaos' in cities. He spoke with Blomberg Radio's Tom Keene and Paul Sweeney.

Andrew Cuomo, the front-runner in New York’s Democratic mayoral primary, said raising taxes on the city’s wealthiest residents would cause an exodus to states like Florida and Texas.

“You elect a socialist who tries to give everything away free, doubles the taxes on the wealthy, and the wealthy say, ‘That’s it I’m gone,”’ Cuomo, the former governor of New York, said in an interview on Bloomberg Radio on Monday.

His comments were a reference to Queens Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani, who is currently running in second place in some polls. Mamdani, who has the backing of the New York City branch of the Democratic Socialists of America, has vowed to freeze rents and make city buses free by raising the state corporate tax rate and imposing a new 2% income tax on city residents who earn more than $1 million a year. The moves would require state approval.

“There’s no such thing as a democratic socialist. It’s just a socialist,” Cuomo said. “It’s a socialist who says dismantle the police, the police state is oppressive, everything free, free transportation, free everything, tax the rich, so there’s class warfare in there.”

Mamdani didn’t respond to an immediate request for comment.

With about two weeks remaining until the June 24 Democratic primary, multiple polls show Cuomo as the likely winner, beating a crowded field of at least eight other serious candidates.

Winning the New York City mayor’s race would crown a remarkable comeback run for Cuomo, 67, the Queens-born scion of a Democratic political dynasty that now spans two centuries. He served nearly three terms in Albany as governor before resigning in August 2021 amid a string of allegations of sexual harassment. Cuomo denies the allegations.

His closest challenger is Mamdani, the charismatic 33-year-old son of Oscar-nominated filmmaker Mira Nair and a Columbia University professor. Mamdani has the backing of US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

The number of candidates swelled in the months after news broke in 2023 of a federal corruption investigation into Mayor Eric Adams, who became the first sitting mayor in the city’s modern history to be indicted on federal charges.

The Trump administration ordered those charges dismissed earlier this year. Adams dropped out of the Democratic primary in April, but he’s running as an independent on a third-party ballot line in the November general election.

Touting Experience

In the interview Monday, Cuomo criticized his own party for becoming “disconnected from the kitchen table issues.” He said it wasn’t so much that President Donald Trump won the election, but that the Democrats lost by not focusing on jobs, mortgages, public safety and other issues affecting everyday life.

He accused Trump of sowing chaos with his immigration crackdown in Los Angeles so that he could appear to be the leader who reestablishes order.

“The flipside is OK create chaos in LA, create chaos in New York, create chaos in Chicago,” Cuomo said. “Pretty soon you create chaos in the nation, and that’s bad for the economy.”

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