Many conservatives are less than pleased with Curtis Sliwa, the Republican nominee to be the next mayor of New York City, for boxing out former Democratic governor Andrew Cuomo's independent campaign for Gracie Mansion and all but handing its keys over to Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani.
With Election Day drawing near, Sliwa is facing increasing pressure to drop out, but the "Guardian Angels" founder is showing no signs of buckling to it. Responding to Cuomo's pleas with him to drop out after last week's debate, Sliwa urged the disgraced former governor to "Go hang out with your billionaires in the Hamptons," and "Leave the streets to me and battling the Zohranistas."
Despite their longstanding disdain for Cuomo, much of the right is nevertheless siding with him over Sliwa.
Chief among them is John Catsmatidis, Sliwa's boss at WABC, who told the Republican nominee's colleague, Sid Rosenberg, that Sliwa should drop out on Monday's edition of Rosenberg's radio show.
"Curtis would make the best mayor of all the candidates ... but Curtis has to realize that he should love New York more than anything else," said Catsmatidis. "It certainly looks like Curtis should pull out right now."
"He could win the next election because people will be proud of him for doing the right thing for New York City, instead of the wrong thing. We cannot take a chance on Zohran winning and every common-sense New Yorker feels the same way," he added.
Others have been less diplomatic.
"Has @CurtisSliwa even explained what exactly his plan is here? What's the point of staying in the race when you know you have zero chance of winning and doing so ensures victory for the socialist candidate that will do substantial harm to the city?" wondered influential conservative X user AG Hamilton.
"Curtis Sliwa has always been a publicity hound and a clown," submitted The Washington Examiner's David Harsanyi. "Self defense is a worthy goal, but many Guardian Angels stories were fake."
"Many asking why Curtis Sliwa doesn't just drop out. He's a narcissist. He's not going to. He'll watch NYC burn just to feed his ego," argued Erielle Azerrad.