Since New York City’s June 24 Democratic primary, it has become clear that democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani is the only anti-Trump candidate for mayor.

Even before the election, it was obvious that the incumbent mayor, Eric Adams, had essentially become Donald Trump’s vassal. In what looks very much like a quid pro quo, the Trump administration ordered federal prosecutors not to pursue corruption charges against Adams; the mayor then agreed to assist the president in his aggressive deportation drive. Adams, whose reputation with Democratic voters is in the toilet, sat out the primary and instead plans to run on two independent ballot lines: “EndAntisemitism” and “Safe&Affordable.” (The Board of Election says that election law limits him to one ballot line, but Adams isn’t known for his penchant for following the law.)

There was also always plenty of reason to doubt that former governor Andrew Cuomo would stand up to Trump as mayor. In April, the president told reporters that he’d “always gotten along with” Cuomo. And as Mamdani emphasized throughout the primary campaign, Cuomo has received massive financial support from some of the same ultrarich donors who backed Trump in 2024, including billionaire hedge funder Bill Ackman.

But if there was ever any doubt about who as mayor would oppose Trump and who would cozy up to him, there isn’t anymore. Yesterday the New York Times reported that the president was considering intervening in New York City’s mayoral election. According to the Times’ sources, Trump has discussed the race with a number of politicians and business leaders to try to decide who was best positioned to defeat Mamdani — and in recent weeks has even spoken directly with Cuomo, who announced an independent campaign for mayor after his humiliating primary loss to Mamdani.

Trump has made no secret of his disdain for Mamdani, whom he has called a “Communist Lunatic” and implied he might deport from the United States. The president has also threatened to arrest Mamdani and withhold federal funding from the city if he interferes with Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations.

If Mamdani does become New York City’s mayor, he will have to contend with a hostile administration in Washington. Yet yesterday’s revelations underline another disturbing truth: some centrist Democrats are willing to go as far as allying with Trump, a reactionary and authoritarian president despised by Democratic Party voters, if it will keep Mamdani out of city hall.

This fact should tell New York voters all they need to know about the actual priorities of Cuomo and his “moderate” Democratic allies — allies like Mark Penn, who worked as a pollster for both of the Clintons, as well as former New York City Council president Andrew Stein, both of whom reportedly tried to convince Trump that Cuomo was the best choice to beat Mamdani. The centrist wing of the Democratic Party is so hostile to Mamdani’s calls to tax the rich, freeze the rent, and expand public services, and to his moral clarity in opposing Israeli genocide and apartheid, that it is willing to call on the help of a president who has viciously attacked civil liberties, the safety net, and workers’ rights.

The talks between Trump and Cuomo and other anti-Mamdani Democrats also cast the reluctance of some party leaders to endorse Mamdani in a new light. Despite the democratic socialist’s overwhelming victory in the primary, the highest-ranking Democrats in New York State have so far refused their official support: neither Gov. Kathy Hochul, nor senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, nor House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries have endorsed Mamdani. None of them seem prepared to back one of Mamdani’s opponents, and Hochul denounced Trump’s threats to arrest and deport the Democratic nominee. But their fence-sitting in the race is an indictment of their political commitments.

Mamdani won the support of a majority of Democratic voters in the city; he also now has the backing of most of the city’s major labor unions and a growing number of national, state, and local legislators including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). His opponents, on the other hand, have the support of Trump, right-wing billionaires like Bill Ackman and Daniel Loeb, and the Israel lobby, which seems to target any politician who publicly expresses sympathy for Palestinians.

It is a true “Which side are you on?” moment in New York, and increasingly national, politics. If Democratic leaders do not get over their fear of Mamdani, they will show themselves not just to be enemies of policies that working-class New Yorkers desperately need, but on the side of the man the party has single-mindedly defined itself against for a decade.