Mamdani Delivers a Direct Message to Trump During Contentious Fox News Interview

Democratic New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani on Wednesday went on Fox News on Wednesday to deliver a direct message to President Donald Trump.

During an appearance on "The Story With Martha MacCallum," Mamdani looked directly into the camera and addressed Trump on the off chance he was watching the show.

"I will not be a mayor, like Mayor Adams, who will call you to figure out how to stay out of jail," he said, just weeks after Mayor Eric Adams ended his reelection campaign. "I won't be a disgraced governor, like Andrew Cuomo, who will call you to ask how to win this election. I can do those things on my own."

Mamdani then listed issues that he would happy to speak with the Republican president about in future conversations.

"I will, however, be a mayor who's ready to speak at any time to lower the cost of living," he said. "That's the way that I will lead the city and the partnership I want to build not only with Washington, DC, but anyone across this country. I think it's important because too often the focus on the needs of working-class Americans are put to the side as we talk more and more about the very kinds of corrupt politicians, like Andrew Cuomo, that delivered us into this kind of crisis."

Elsewhere in the interview, Mamdani directly addressed Cuomo, who is running as an independent and is his top rival in the New York City mayoral election.

"Andrew: You had your chance to lead this state," he said. "You took that time to sell out working-class New Yorkers to your billionaire donors. And instead of actually meeting the needs of people who couldn't afford to live in this city, you gave $959 million in tax breaks to Elon Musk."

Mamdani is scheduled to square off against Cuomo and Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa on Thursday night in the penultimate debate ahead of next month's election. Early voting begins October 25.