Mark Halperin Explains ‘Tragedy’ He Saw in NYC Mayoral Debate

Political analyst Mark Halperin said Friday that this week’s New York City mayoral debate revealed a glaring failure, not from the candidates, but from the moderators.

Democratic New York City mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani, former Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and Republican New York City mayoral nominee Curtis Sliwa faced off Thursday in a debate for the New York City mayoral race.

“The tragedy for me is in two hours, the moderators never really tried to pin Mamdani down on the economic policies that he’s espousing. And how he proposes to pay for things that are not currently affordable. The other candidates didn’t do it either,” Halperin said on “Special Report with Bret Baier.”

“And I think even though, as Mark [Penn] said, there is another debate, I think he’s going to be elected mayor of New York City without even [coming] close to explaining how his numbers add up on the outside.”

Halperin said it is “very difficult” to see how Cuomo can change the dynamic of the race.

Read More: https://dailycallernewsfoundation.org/2025/10/17/mark-halperin-explains-the-tragedy-he-saw-in-this-weeks-new-york-mayoral-debate/