Some of Joe Biden's top fundraisers said they are feeling pressure from Gov. Andrew Cuomo's team to include him on the 2020 ticket following his rise in the national profile during the coronavirus pandemic.

One former senior staffer for the New York governor told the New York Post on Saturday that Cuomo was "definitely" angling for a national slot. "If given the opportunity, there is no question in my mind he would want to go for that," the former staffer said. "This is the Cuomo playbook. Keep out there, publicly deny, work behind the scenes."

A New York Democratic operative said some people in Biden's orbit had said they were feeling the heat from Cuomo's team. "Biden bundlers have told me that they are feeling pressure from Cuomo’s orbit to, at the very least, have the vice president bring him up in complimentary ways regarding his handling of the crisis," said the source who keeps in touch with some of Biden's top donors.

The source added that the Cuomo people were trying to "generate a positive whisper campaign" to nab the governor a potential slot on Biden's 2020 ticket.

"The people that work for Andrew Cuomo are not wasting one second of the coronavirus," another inside source said. "[They’re] talking Cuomo up to the bundlers in the hopes that they bring it back to Biden’s people. … It’s all very calculated."

Cuomo, for his part, has had to tamp down hopes that he might try to run for the presidency after President Trump said he would be " a better candidate than 'Sleepy Joe.'" "The answer is no," the New York Democrat said in response to Trump's comment.

Biden promised last month that he would be picking a woman to be his vice president. He has also suggested it could likely be an African American woman.

A spokeswoman with Cuomo said in a statement that he has "definitively said he has no interest in being considered for the position." The Biden campaign has affirmed the former vice president still plans on picking a woman to be his running mate.