Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is telling deep-pocketed donors that she expects disgrace former governor Andrew Cuomo to run against her in a primary.

Many see this as a ruse to raise more money for the junior senator from New York. Gillibrand is up for re-election in 2024.

A former top Cuomo administration official told The Daily Beast, “Winning an election would be a vindication of the voters that he was right and everyone else was wrong.

“Winning the governorship would be the ultimate brass ring, but I think he would look at almost any seat where he has a real chance of winning as an opportunity to reestablish himself,” the source added.

Many believe the source to be former top Cuomo aide Melissa DeRosa, who has been writing opinion columns for the outlet since last year.

Gillibrand does face a potential Republican challenge by former gubernatorial candidate and former US Rep. Lee Zeldin, who has recently blasted Gillibrand as “one of the laziest, most forgettable, unaccomplished senators in the country.”

“That’s silly and absurd. We didn’t know this Daily Beast story was going until it was posted last night, and then we responded,” said Cuomo spokesman Richard Azzopardi.