Bill Ackman, the billionaire hedge fund investor who supported President Donald Trump last year, has donated $1 million to Defend NYC, a super PAC opposed to Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral campaign, Politico reported.
Ackman had previously donated $500,000 to Fix the City, a super PAC supporting former Gov. Andrew Cuomo during the Democrat primary.
Mamdani easily defeated Cuomo in the primary and leads Cuomo, who is running an independent campaign, by double digits in the general election race according to recent polling.
Ackman previously supported Mayor Eric Adams in the general election but switched his support to Cuomo after Adams dropped out.
A staunch supporter of Israel, Ackman has regularly taken Mamdani to task for his Democratic Socialist views and criticism of Israel on social media.
Defund NYC was founded by Jason Meister, a former Trump campaign adviser and has raised $1.3 million from nine contributors.
The super PAC has not reported any spending beyond consulting fees and polling, Politico reported.
Mamdani’s campaign brushed off Ackman’s contribution.
“Bill Ackman cannot stand the idea of New Yorkers being the ones to choose their next mayor, so he’s doing the only thing he knows how: throwing money at this race,” campaign spokesperson Dora Pekec said in a statement to Politico. “Zohran defeated the billionaires once, and he’ll do it again.
“Because we can’t be bought, and New York City is not for sale.”
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