Mamdani Denounces Cuomo 'Cowardice,' Pledges to Defend NYC From Trump in Mayoral Debate

New York City mayoral front-runner Zohran Mamdani did not have to reach far back into the past to remind viewers of Thursday night's debate that former Gov. Andrew Cuomo has displayed a refusal to stand up to President Donald Trump—which he argued could put the city at risk as the president continues to threaten cities in blue states.

When Cuomo, who is running as an independent after losing the Democratic primary to Mamdani, addressed Trump and said, "I will fight you every step of the way if you try to hurt New York," Mamdani was quick to jump in.

"Unless he weaponizes the justice system to go after the attorney general of the state, in which case you'll issue a statement that doesn't even name the president," said the state Assembly member. "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 was referring to a statement released last week by Cuomo after Trump's Department of Justice (DOJ) indicted New York Attorney General Letitia James for alleged bank fraud. James has been a target of the president, especially since she successfully prosecuted him for financial fraud, and he forced a US attorney out of his job over his refusal to file charges against New York's top law enforcement official.

In his initial statement after the indictment, Cuomo did not mention James or Trump by name, saying only that "when the law is weaponized or manipulated to advance political agendas, it erodes public trust and weakens the very foundation of justice."

He named the president and attorney general, who is a close ally of Mamdani, in a subsequent statement, but when asked by a PIX 11 reporter this week whether he would condemn Trump for using the DOJ to target James, he replied, "Condemn him for what?”

"Both sides, Democrats and Republicans believe there’s too much politics in the justice system," added the former governor, who was forced to resign in 2021 after being accused of sexual harassment by multiple women.

The interview led Mamdani to warn that "Andrew Cuomo is incapable of speaking clearly and directly about Trump’s authoritarianism," and the mayoral candidate doubled down on that assertion during the debate, saying that capitulation to the president is "what we would see from Donald Trump's puppet."

The exchange comes as Trump is ramping up federal law enforcement operations in cities including Chicago and Portland, Oregon, which he has claimed are overrun with undocumented immigrants who commit crimes and violent left-wing protesters—allegations that are not supported by statistical data and have been rejected by courts, local residents, and officials.

The president has threatened to deploy the National Guard to multiple Democratic-led cities—which both Mamdani and Cuomo said they oppose during the debate—but Mamdani warned the president will "have to get through me as the next mayor of the city" if he attacks New York City as he's threatened to, should the progressive Democrat win the election.

Trump has also threatened to rip federal funding away from the city if Mamdani wins, and has reportedly spoken to Cuomo about the race in a recent call, weighing the possibility of getting involved in the election to try to sway the vote toward the former governor. Both Cuomo and Trump have denied the call took place.

As the debate aired, Mamdani reminded New Yorkers of previous comments Cuomo has made about Trump's deployment of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to Los Angeles, when he said officers were "going to do things that are illegal and unconstitutional, but let's not overreact"—a reference to protests against the deployment.

"This is how Andrew Cuomo thinks we should respond to authoritarianism," said Mamdani, who was filmed earlier this year joining other New Yorkers in confronting Trump's border czar, Tom Homan, on the abduction of former Columbia University student organizer Mahmoud Khalil.

He also talked about the terror that's unfolded in recent months at the city's immigration court, where federal officers have detained people attending asylum hearings, threw a woman to the ground as she was pleading with agents not to take her husband away from her and her children, and arrested Democratic officials who were helping immigrants and protesting the enforcement actions.

"I agree that we need more legal representation," said Mamdani. "I also think we need to actually be able to stand up to Donald Trump."

During the debate, Mamdani also hammered home his campaign's central message regarding the need to make the city more affordable for working people—lambasting Cuomo for his focus on the rent-stabilized apartment Mamdani and his wife live in, which the former governor has said the couple should leave to allow low-income New Yorkers to live there.

"You've heard it from Andrew Cuomo that the No. 1 crisis in the city, the housing crisis, the answer is to evict my wife and I," said Mamdani. "He thinks you address this crisis by unleashing my landlord's ability to raise my rent. If you think the problem in this city is that my rent is too low, vote for him. If you know that the problem in this city is that your rent it too high, vote for me."

When Cuomo invoked Mamdani's lack of experience in an executive role and suggested he would be ill-prepared to lead the city through a crisis, Mamdani responded with a barb regarding Cuomo's March 2020 order that nursing homes allow residents to be readmitted after a Covid-19 diagnosis, which was followed by efforts to undercount the death toll in the facilities.

"If we have a health pandemic then why would New Yorkers turn back to the governor who sent seniors to their death in nursing homes?" said Mamdani. "That's the kind of experience that's on offer here today."

"What I don't have in experience I make up for in integrity," he said, turning to his rival, "and what you don't have in integrity you could never make up for in experience."