State Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani blasted former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo for being President Donald Trump’s alleged “puppet” as the two sparred over their ability to stand up to the White House at a New York City Mayoral debate on Thursday.
Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for New York City mayor, stressed that Cuomo didn’t call out Trump by name when he responded to the Justice Department’s decision to pursue an indictment of New York Attorney General Letitia James.
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That move, he argued, spoke to Cuomo’s reluctance to confront the president, along with past media reports that suggested a cozier relationship between the two.
“You’ll issue a statement that doesn’t even name the president. And no matter what you think about Donald Trump, you know that not even being able to name him is an act of cowardice,” Mamdani said. “That is what we would see from Donald Trump’s puppet.”
Cuomo countered that he’d condemned political weaponization of the justice system, and said that he’d pushed back on Trump over pandemic policies when he was Governor.
“I’d like to work with you, I think we can do good things together, but number one I will fight you every step of the way if you try to hurt New York,” Cuomo said of Trump.
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Mamdani’s statements come as the New York City contest heads into its final weeks and as a New York Times report previously suggested that Cuomo had held a call with Trump regarding the race. The president has mused about clearing the field to help a moderate candidate win.
Both politicians have denied that a call took place, a position Cuomo stuck to at the Thursday debate.
When asked about his last phone conversation with Trump, Cuomo said it occurred around the time of the assassination attempt on the then-presidential candidate in 2024. When he was asked, Mamdani said he had not spoken with Trump before.
Cuomo had also previously wondered whether Trump could help sway Republican voters to his side while speaking at a fundraiser. He argued Thursday that Trump would be emboldened to target New York if Mamdani won, suggesting that he would become “Mayor Trump.”
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Mamdani jabbed at the past media reports about Cuomo and emphasized that he was committed to countering any Trump threats to go after the city.
“What I’d tell the president is, if he ever wants to come for New Yorkers in the way that he has been, he’s going to have to get through me as the next mayor of the city,” Mamdani said.
Both candidates also said that they opposed efforts to deploy the National Guard to New York City, a threat that Trump has previously levied against multiple Democrat-led cities.
Throughout the debate, the two largely stuck to attacks they’ve espoused before over experience, Israel and Cuomo’s past harassment allegations as Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa chimed in occasionally with his own barbs.
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With the election less than a month out, Mamdani has maintained a solid lead in the polls and had roughly 46 percent support, while Cuomo had 33 percent in a recent Quinnipiac survey.
“The front-runner won by making no major mistakes, while his opponents failed to land any serious blows,” a Politico recap of the debate concluded.
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