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Gov. Andrew Cuomo dipped his toe a little deeper into national politics Sunday, saying President Donald Trump is “afraid” of going head-to-head in this year’s presidential election with former Vice President Joe Biden.
Cuomo, speaking on Fox News, said Trump wouldn’t have dispatched former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani to Ukraine to dig up dirt on Biden if he wasn’t afraid of losing.
“Donald Trump is afraid of Joe Biden,” Cuomo said. “Otherwise, Rudy Giuliani who is a busy person doesn’t run around Ukraine, and the President doesn’t get on the phone with Ukraine talking about Joe Biden unless he is afraid of Joe Biden.”
Cuomo said the same later Sunday when asked by a reporter in Nassau County to clarify his remarks.
It’s not unusual for Cuomo to go to bat for Biden, who’s currently leading in the Democratic primary for president. Sen. Bernie Sanders is trailing Biden by 91 delegates.
But Cuomo’s comments Sunday were the strongest he’s made concerning the race for president in recent weeks, during which he’s been juggling an outbreak of the novel coronavirus and negotiations on the state budget. The spending plan is due at the end of the month.
Cuomo, so far, hasn’t made an endorsement in the race for president, but he’s spoken favorably about Biden’s candidacy in the past.
When asked last week when he was planning to endorse Biden, Cuomo brushed off the question with a quip to reporters that he hadn’t decided who to back. But it’s assumed, as of now, that Cuomo will end up endorsing Biden.
The question for Democrats in New York is whether that will happen before the state’s primary next month, or if Cuomo will hold his endorsement until later in the year. New York’s primary is on April 28.
