Mamdani, Cuomo Each Say With Straight Face That Vote for the Other Is Vote for Trump

Socialist Democratic New York City mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani and independent candidate, former Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, each claimed during Wednesday evening’s debate that the other a vote in support of President Donald Trump.

New York City’s mayoral candidates took the stage for the second and final time in a two-hour debate to discuss policies and how they plan to lead the U.S.’ largest city. During his remarks, Mamdani called Cuomo Trump’s “puppet,” claiming the president’s pick for mayor is the former Democratic governor.

“We first just heard from the Republican candidate for mayor [Curtis Sliwa] and then we heard from Donald Trump’s puppet himself, Andrew Cuomo. You could turn on TV any day of the week and you will hear Donald Trump share that his pick for mayor is Andrew Cuomo. And he wants Andrew Cuomo to be the mayor not because it will be good for New Yorkers, but because it will be good for him,” Mamdani said.

Mamdani went on to say that Trump ran on conducting mass deportations, lowering the cost of living and “going after his political enemies,” adding that he would “always” be willing to talk to the president about the cost of living. However, the socialist Democratic nominee said he would “fight” Trump “every single step of the way” on the other two policies.

Moderators then allowed Cuomo to respond to Mamdani’s claim about Trump’s alleged support of the ex-governor’s mayoral campaign, which Cuomo immediately pushed back on.

Read More: https://dailycallernewsfoundation.org/2025/10/22/zohran-mamdani-andrew-cuomo-new-york-city-mayor-debate-donald-trump/