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Andrew Cuomo challenged his NYC mayoral opponent, Zohran Mamdani, to five different debates across all five New York City boroughs during a press conference Thursday.
The challenge came as the former governor slammed Mamdani at his press conference in Manhattan’s Upper West Side for failing “to give a straight answer” to reporters’ questions and changing his mind “on everything” he has said on the campaign trail.
“When you try to ask [Mamdani] a question, he will simply not answer, and he obfuscates. And, frankly, you guys let him get away with it,” Cuomo told reporters Thursday. “I won’t let him get away with it. And New Yorkers won’t let him get away with it.”
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Hours after Cuomo leveled his challenge to Mamdani, the self-described democratic socialist shot back a proposal of his own: debate President Donald Trump.
“Let’s cut out the middle man. Why should I debate Donald Trump’s puppet when I could debate Donald Trump himself?” Mamdani’s campaign told Fox News Digital in a statement. “If Donald Trump is serious about intervening in the mayoral race, he should come to New York City and debate me directly about why he’s cutting SNAP benefits for hungry New Yorkers to give tax breaks to his wealthy donors.”
The back-and-forth between Cuomo and Mamdani comes amid speculation that President Donald Trump is weighing whether to offer jobs in his administration to incumbent NYC Mayor Eric Adams and the GOP candidate for NYC mayor, Curtis Sliwa. The move to offer the two candidates a job is reportedly a bid to clear the field for Cuomo, multiple sources with intimate knowledge about the matter have said.
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The former governor indicated during his press conference Thursday that he was aware of media reports about Trump possibly offering his NYC mayoral opponents jobs, subsequently clearing the field for him, but added that he has “no idea” if the reports are accurate. Cuomo said he has not spoken to either Mayor Eric Adams or President Trump about the matter.
“I know nothing about that speculation,” Cuomo told reporters Thursday about the matter. His campaign did not respond to requests for comment.
Neither Adams nor his team responded to Fox News Digital’s inquiries on Thursday either, but media reports Thursday indicated Adams met in Florida with Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, one of the president’s closest advisors, to discuss a potential job with the Trump administration.
News of the Adams meeting came after media reports last week indicating Trump had personally phoned influential businessman John Catsimatidis, an Adams ally, to set a deadline for the mayor and Sliwa to drop out.
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The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment on the matter.
Cuomo, who has positioned himself as the moderate left-wing alternative to Mamdani in the race, described Mamdani’s policy proposals Thursday as “absurd,” “out of the mainstream” and “discordant with what New Yorkers believe.”
Shortly after launching his independent bid for mayor last month, Cuomo proposed that all the other candidates in the race, with the exclusion of Mamdani, make a pledge to agree that whoever is not leading in the polls by mid-September, would step aside. The aim of the pledge, Cuomo indicated, is to ensure the candidate with the best opportunity to defeat Mamdani runs against him under the most favorable conditions possible.
However, the proposal has been rejected by Adams, and Sliwa suggested to Fox News Digital Thursday that Cuomo and Adams are not even the main frontrunners who New Yorkers want to win.
“This is a race between the two major party nominees, myself and Mamdani, and New Yorkers know I’m the only one with the experience and grit to take him on,” Sliwa told Fox News Digital. “I’m running to save New York City from decline and give working people the future they deserve.”
Speaking specifically to Mamdani’s response to Cuomo’s debate challenge, Sliwa added that Mamdani “is desperate to distract from his own radical agenda, so he hides behind cheap theatrics.”
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