When John Lindsay ran for reelection as mayor of New York in 1969, he recognized the mood of both the city and the nation. He linked his outspoken opposition to the increasingly unpopular Vietnam War to his campaign’s critique of federal policies that diverted money from municipal needs into the coffers of the Pentagon. “The military-industrial complex,” Lindsay declared, was “opposed to the needs of the people.”

That did not sit well with his fellow Republicans, who just a year earlier had rated him highly enough to consider putting the young and dynamic New Yorker on their presidential ticket. The mayor narrowly lost 1969’s GOP primary to right-wing state Senator John Marchi, on the same day that Democrats nominated a reactionary of their own, City Comptroller Mario Procaccino.

Some prominent New York Republicans, such as US Senator Jacob Javits and Attorney General Louis J. Lefkowitz, stuck with Lindsay. Javits went so far as to warn that the defeat of the liberal incumbent would cause the city to “go downhill in terms of race relations” and create an opening for “the forces of oppression and repression.” But Republican President Richard Nixon and Vice President Spiro Agnew backed Marchi. Nixon did so out of party loyalty (and a measure of envious disdain for Lindsay’s charisma and national stature), while the increasingly bombastic Agnew relished the chance to attack a high-profile member of the party’s liberal wing. Positioning himself as a right-wing populist, the vice president was embarking on a crusade against war critics such as Lindsay and the urbane partisans of both parties Agnew dismissed as an “effete corps of intellectual snobs.”

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Marchi welcomed the support of Nixon and Agnew—but not as much as Lindsay.

The opposition of his party’s warmongering president and reactionary vice president proved to be a perfect selling point for Lindsay, as he set out to build a multiracial progressive coalition for his fall bid on the ballot line of the city’s small but influential Liberal Party. After all, the Nixon-Agnew ticket had won just 34 percent of New York City’s vote in the 1968 presidential election. The rejection by Nixon allowed Lindsay, a longtime Republican, to maintain the support of progressive Republicans while appealing to Democrats and independents. And it worked. Lindsay beat his closest rival (Procaccino) by 180,000 votes and trounced Nixon’s candidate by almost 500,000 votes.

Far from helping him, Marchi’s White House ties undoubtedly did damage—four in five New Yorkers rejected the GOP nominee in 1969.

Fast-forward 56 years to 2025. Another Republican White House has taken an interest in another New York City mayoral race. This year’s contest pits Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani against a number of rivals, including the man he beat in the June Democratic primary, former governor Andrew Cuomo; sitting Mayor Eric Adams; Republican Curtis Sliwa; and attorney Jim Walden.

This week, The New York Times reported that Republican President Donald Trump is weighing some kind of intervention in the New York contest to try to stop Mamdani, a democratic socialist and critic of the president. That wasn’t exactly a shocker, as Trump has made no secret of his disdain for Mamdani, whom the president has falsely called “a communist” and threatened to arrest and potentially deport (despite the fact that Mamdani is a US citizen). What was notable was the Times’ report that “in a previously undisclosed call in recent weeks, Mr. Trump spoke about the race directly with Mr. Cuomo, an old associate and foil, according to three people briefed on the call, who were not authorized to discuss it.” On Thursday, the Times reported that Cuomo told a group of business leaders, “I know, personally, he doesn’t want to fight with me. Personally, I don’t want to fight with him, right? So I don’t think he’s going to be eager to create a conflict.”

The reports sparked an immediate outcry in New York City. The Trump and Cuomo teams entered denial mode. Despite the three sources, and a Times statement to the effect that “we’re confident in the accuracy of our reporting,” the Cuomo camp endeavored to cast shade on the reports—with the candidate dismissing the news as “gossip.” No surprise there. Being tied to Trump in today’s New York City is even more politically disadvantageous than being associated with Nixon in 1969. Where Nixon won 34 percent in 1968, Trump pulled barely 30 percent in 2024—and his approval rating has tanked since he retook office.

Indeed, Mamdani’s primary win was seen by many as a rejection of Democratic caution and compromising in a moment of mounting concern with the Republican administration’s authoritarian excesses.

“Today we learned Andrew Cuomo is directly coordinating with Donald Trump, even as this President sends masked agents to rip our neighbors off the streets and guts the social services so many New Yorkers rely on. It’s disqualifying and a betrayal of our city,” declared Mamdani on Wednesday.

Former New York City mayor Bill de Blasio said, “When Donald Trump wants you to be Mayor of NYC, you definitely shouldn’t get the job. Sorry, Andrew Cuomo.” Maintaining his withering critique of the former governor, de Blasio added, “The white flag of surrender has become the norm for Andrew Cuomo. He’s already conceding the fight for NYC’s future to Donald Trump. Not what New Yorkers are looking for, Andrew.”

US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the New York Democrat who was a key backer of Mamdani in the primary race against Cuomo and remains an enthusiastic Mamdani supporter even as several other top New York Democrats continue to resist his candidacy, said, “New Yorkers knew Andrew Cuomo was backed by Trump’s orbit. That’s why he lost the primary. Now we have confirmation. It’s time for Democratic leaders to unite behind Zohran K. Mamdani.”