Cuomo and Mamdani tear into each other in final New York City mayoral debate

By Eric Bradner and David Wright, CNN

(CNN) — Andrew Cuomo and Zohran Mamdani bitterly clashed over age and experience Thursday in the final debate before New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary, as Cuomo warned that the progressive state assemblyman is unprepared for the job and Mamdani hammered the former governor over scandals during his time in Albany.

Cuomo, Mamdani and five other candidates squared off just before Saturday’s start of early voting ahead of the June 24 Democratic primary.

The fiery exchanges between the universally known Cuomo and fast-rising Mamdani reflected how many see the race as increasingly competitive — and how the two view each other as a threat.

Cuomo said it would be “reckless and dangerous” to elect a 33-year-old state assemblyman to a role that requires negotiating with city, state and federal lawmakers, standing up to President Donald Trump, responding to natural disasters and more.

Mamdani retorted with a laundry list of the 67-year-old Cuomo’s scandals in the governor’s office, including the sexual harassment allegations that forced him out of office in 2021.

“I’ve never had to resign in disgrace,” Mamdani said, while also taking shots at Cuomo’s handling of Medicaid and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. “I have never hounded the thirteen women who credibly accused me of sexual harassment. I have never sued for their gynecological records. And I have never done these things because I am not you, Mr. Cuomo.”

Cuomo shot back: “Mr. Mamdani is right. He’s never done anything, period.”

“He’s accomplished nothing,” he said, criticizing Mamdani’s four years as a state assemblyman. “He has zero accomplishments, and now he thinks he’s going to be ready to be mayor of the city of New York. It is laughable. It is laughable and it is dangerous.”

Earlier Thursday, Cuomo’s campaign had launched a television advertisement pointing to Trump sending troops to Los Angeles amid protests over deportations, and portraying Mamdani as “dangerously inexperienced” and unprepared to take on the president.

Mamdani, meanwhile, ripped Cuomo for repeatedly mispronouncing his name and spelled out his last name to make the point.

Former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, a longtime Cuomo rival, said on X during the debate that Cuomo “is REALLY scared” of Mamdani.

“He’s not even faking it,” de Blasio said. “And Andrew is REALLY disrespecting all the New Yorkers who support Zohran.”

In deep-blue New York City, the primary is often the decisive contest. This year, incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, who was elected four years ago as a Democrat, will be on the ballot in November as an independent. Curtis Sliwa, who lost to Adams four years ago, is again the Republican nominee.

Other contenders look for inroads

Other candidates sought to offer Democratic voters a path besides Cuomo and Mamdani. New York’s primary is a ranked-choice contest, which means candidates are also competing to be voters’ second- or third-favorite contender, even if they don’t win their first-place votes.

New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, who largely sought to remain above the fray, also questioned Mamdani’s experience. She pointed to her experience crafting the city’s budget and leading the council.

“Given what I’ve just laid out, do you think you’re more qualified than me to lead the city?” she asked Mamdani.

Scott Stringer, a former New York City comptroller, said Cuomo has experience and Mamdani has vision — but “my experience and my vision, when you combine it, is the third lane to win this race.”

New York City Comptroller Brad Lander might have landed the sharpest blows on Cuomo. He highlighted the specifics around Cuomo’s resignation and the findings of the attorney general’s office’s investigation that concluded he sexually harassed multiple women and violated state law.

Lander said he wouldn’t want to have to tell college students, “Don’t go work at city hall because the mayor is a sexual harasser.”

Cuomo responded that five district attorneys investigated the allegations against him and “nothing has come of them whatsoever.”

“This is disqualifying. The man resigned. It should be obvious. The problem is that we do not get to address the issues that New Yorkers care about because we’re talking about his past,” said state senator Zellnor Myrie.

The candidates also clashed over police and public safety, as Cuomo described New Yorkers as “afraid on the streets.”

“They feel unsafe,” he said. “You can quote statistics all day long, they get afraid walking into the subway, they get afraid walking down the street when they see a mentally ill homeless person.”

Cuomo defends police funding

Cuomo sought to use his tough talk on public safety, much like Adams did in 2021, to differentiate himself from the Democratic field. He pointed to a 2021 plan to cut $1 billion in police funding from the city budget and accused his rivals of supporting efforts to “defund the police.”

“That was the chant, and $1 billion was taken from the police department,” Cuomo said. He touted a proposal to add 5,000 police officers to the NYPD.

Mamdani said he wants more social workers so that the NYPD can focus on serious crime but does not want to slash police funding.

“I will not defund the police. I will work with the police,” he said.

Mamdani confronted over Israel criticism

Mamdani is running to be the city’s first Muslim mayor. He was sharply attacked over his criticism of Israel’s war in Gaza – which he has called a “genocide” – as well as his support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement and his calls for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s arrest.

Former hedge fund executive Whitney Tilson accused Mamdani of being a leader “inciting these mobs” at Columbia University, where he said protests disrupted students’ educations.

“When you use words referring to the only Jewish state in the world like ‘genocide’ and ‘apartheid,’ when you call for divestment and all, that is inciting these mobs,” he said.

Mamdani said he is being “smeared” and “mischaracterized” for positions with which he says many Jewish voters agree.

“I say these things because far too often, we take what can be a place of disagreement and start to broach beyond that,” he said.

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