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Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa didn't hold back during a recent interview about the New York City race, claiming that he was offered a whopping $10 million bribe to drop out. Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, who ran on the Democratic ticket, emerged victorious from the race on Tuesday night, beating out former Governor Andrew Cuomo in a devastating upset for the once-powerful liberal voice. The race was packed with tense face-offs between Mamdani, Cuomo and Sliwa - as well as incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, before he dropped out in September. During an appearance on the My Expert Opinion podcast with rapper and MC Math Hoffa, Sliwa revealed that billionaires tried to bribe him to drop out of the race so Cuomo would have a better chance against Mamdani. Sliwa confessed that he only invested in armed security after he said he was offered a bribe, and never opted for the extra protection after he was shot in the back of a yellow cab in 1992. 'I was never paranoid and never had armed security, even afterwards when I recovered,' Sliwa began. 'I have armed security now. After the billionaires bribed me with $10 million to drop out of the mayoral race, I said no.' He confessed that after he and his wife received multiple death threats, he invested in a security detail made up of former New York City Police Department officers. Sliwa said he didn't want protection from current NYPD officers because he believed they would report his conversations to Adams. He then issued a warning to his former competitor, Mamdani, advising him to be cautious about what he discusses around officers, because 'Adams is listening.' 'Are you kidding? These are his boys - handpicked. I'm street smart, no no no. You think those cops are not going to be reporting every conversation that I have in that SUV?' Sliwa continued. When asked if he speculated that Adams had taken a bribe to drop out of the race, Sliwa joked that the mayor was waiting for the right price, like former Price is Right host Bob Barker. Sliwa said he believed that Adams was offered at least double the amount that he was during the campaign. 'Politics is the dirtiest business there is,' he said, adding that Adams was 'so corrupt' as mayor. The Daily Mail has reached out to Adams's office for comment. Sliwa previously opened up about the bribe in a profile with The New Yorker, claiming he was offered $10 million across seven offers. He has remained tight-lipped about who tried to bribe him, but was encouraged to step down by several high-profile entities, including President Donald Trump, Republican donor John Catsimatidis, and the editorial board of The New York Post. Cuomo received several donations from billionaires throughout his campaign, including former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who donated $8.3 million to the Fix the City super PAC in support of the former governor, according to Forbes. Airbnb cofounder Joseph Gebbia gave $3 million to the super PAC, while Bill Ackman gave $1.75 million, and the Tisch family gave $1.2 million. A Forbes analysis found that 26 billionaires and billionaire families poured at least $100,000 each to support Cuomo's campaign. Despite the massive billionaire backing, Cuomo lost the race on Tuesday by 181,056 votes. While he did win 41.6 percent of the votes as the independent candidate, Mamdani ultimately steamed ahead with 50.4 percent. Sliwa, for his part, took home just 7.1 percent of the votes. Even though Adams had dropped out of the race, he still appeared on the ballot with 0.3 percent. Even if Sliwa had dropped out of the race and all of his supporters voted for Cuomo, Mamdani still would've won, but by a significantly narrower margin.
