Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Sunday denied knowing about a mailer sent by the state Democratic Party that suggested Cynthia Nixon is anti-Semitic.
"I didn't know about the mailer, I heard about the mailer, I haven't seen the mailer," the governor said at a press conference. "The way I ran this campaign, it's been on the issues, it's been positive. I think the mailer was a mistake. I think it was inappropriate."
The mailer — which the New York State Democratic Committee sent just before the start of Rosh Hashanah and days before the primary election Thursday — shows an image of Nixon and says, in part, "With anti-Semitism and bigotry on the rise, we can't take a chance with inexperienced Cynthia Nixon, who won't stand strong for our Jewish communities."
The governor said he instructed the party to find out why the mailer was sent out and who approved it but didn't say if anyone would face repercussions.
"The state Party sent out a wrong and inappropriate mailer — we will work with the Nixon campaign to send out a mailing of their choosing to the same universe of people," Geoff Berman, the executive director of the state Democratic Party, tweeted after experiencing backlash over the mailer.
But it's unlikely that the party could send out a mailer on behalf of the Nixon campaign before the primary.
Sources told NY1 that the mailer cost about $11,300 and went out to about 7,000 households.
Nixon, who is raising her children Jewish, slammed the literature and didn't buy Cuomo's claim that he wasn't involved in the process; Berman is the executive director of the state Democratic Party, but Cuomo is, in effect, in charge.
Mayor Bill de Blasio — an ally of Nixon who said Saturday he wouldn't make an endorsement in the governor's race — called the incident "unacceptable" said the party should compensate the Nixon campaign.
"The mailer sent by the NY Democratic Party in the 11th hour falsely attacking Cynthia Nixon is beyond unacceptable — it's downright Trumpian," the mayor tweeted. "A tweeted 'apology' calling it a 'mistake' is laughable. The state party must compensate the Nixon campaign immediately."