New York City Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa quit his WABC radio gig on air on Wednesday after pleas from colleagues to drop his long-shot campaign.
“You will never see me in the studio of WABC ever again,” Sliwa told host Sid Rosenberg.
Rosenberg and WABC owner John Catsimatidis both argued Sliwa should drop his campaign to give former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo a better shot at taking down Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani earlier this week. Mamdani is leading by double digits in most polls, and Sliwa regularly polls third behind Cuomo.
“I think you’re losing sight of who you’re running against,” Rosenberg told Sliwa.
The radio host accused Sliwa of being too focused on Cuomo, while Sliwa accused his employer of turning into the “Always Broadcasting Cuomo” station.
Sliwa blasted his colleagues for calling his campaign “lazy” and “selfish.”
“I’m waiting for the apologies from my former friends and colleagues at WABC who said that I’m running a lazy campaign and that I’m selfish,” he said. “That’s why you will never see me there again.”
Sliwa has been off the air during his mayoral campaign.
“You’re gonna lose and you’re gonna lose badly,” Rosenberg told his colleague.
Sliwa, Mamdani, and are set for their second and final campaign debate on Wednesday evening.
“I feel personal,
The Republican and Guardian Angels founder also claimed his life could be at risk and he’s had to hire private security.
“If anything happens to me or anything happens to my wife, because of this frenzy that I hear constantly coming from some of your colleagues there at WABC, it’s on you guys and you gals,” he said. “My life is on the line here.”
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