In an interview with Barrett Media, former 77 WABC host Curtis Sliwa claimed that push from his former colleagues for him to exit the New York City mayor’s race came at the behest of John Catsimatidis. The station’s owner responded on Monday morning.
“It was all organized by John — and John alone — to get me to drop out and to harp on this over and over so that I would be denied an opportunity to run for the mayoralty and discuss issues,” Sliwa said of hosts on the station pushing him to exit the race in an effort to help Andrew Cuomo (I) defeat Zohran Mamdani (D).
During an appearance on Sid and Friends in the Morning, John Catsimatidis told Sid Rosenberg he harbors no ill will towards Sliwa, but that the former host needs to learn a few things.
“I’m sure he’s very hurt,” said Catsimatidis. “He got the lowest ever (vote total) in the GOP. So I guess that hurt. He’s looking for people to blame … Things were against him.
“He should learn to play that song, Kenny Rodgers, ‘You’ve got to know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em, know when to walk away, and know when to run.’ Curtis didn’t learn that. He’s my friend for 40 years. I feel bad for him, but he should’ve known when to walk away and know when to run. Let him calm down. Whatever he wants to do in life, he will do, but right now, there’s so many people that hate him.”
Rosenberg added that, in his view, Curtis Sliwa went from a beloved figure in the city to know being in a position where “the whole city hates his guts.” Rosenberg did admit that he’ll “always respect” Sliwa for his dedication to the city.
John Catsimatidis continued by noting that he’ll place Curtis Sliwa in the same camp that he has Rudy Giuliani.
“I have nothing against Rudy the person, really,” the 77 WABC owner said. “I don’t think Rudy hates me. I’ve always backed him up. He went through a traumatic time … Curtis, if he were to become mayor, everybody would have gone along with it.”
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