Democratic mayoral nominee and frontrunner Zohran Mamdani stated the primary common election debate ‘went well’ for him. Firday, Oct. 18, 2025.
Picture by Lloyd Mitchell
Democratic mayoral nominee and frontrunner Zohran Mamdani stated on Friday he feels the first common election mayoral debate the night time earlier than “went well” for him.
Mamdani, a democratic socialist Meeting member from Queens, appeared ready for many of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa’s assault strains on topics together with his expertise stage and Israel, whereas always shifting the main target again to his core marketing campaign concern: affordability.
As for Cuomo, the impartial candidate took to speak radio to tout his efficiency and argue that he had uncovered Mamdani. Sliwa, in the meantime, rebuffed any notion that he would drop out of the race to probably assist Cuomo win, charging that the previous governor has already given up primarily based on his debate efficiency Thursday.
Throughout an unrelated Friday marketing campaign occasion, Mamdani informed reporters that he was completely happy together with his debate efficiency as a result of it gave him an opportunity to indicate voters the selection between himself and Cuomo.
“I do feel that the debate went well because it was an opportunity to speak directly to New Yorkers about our agenda, to speak about our agenda,” Mamdani stated. “To have that opportunity on the same debate stage as the architect of this affordability crisis shows New Yorkers the real choices as it comes on Election Day.”
The Meeting member slammed Cuomo over the upwards of $60 million the state has spent on authorized issues associated to the nursing house and sexual harassment scandals that led to his resignation — cash Mamdani stated may have been spent on packages to make town extra inexpensive as a substitute.
A Cuomo spokesperson didn’t instantly return a request for remark.
Cuomo thinks Mamdani ‘got exposed’
Impartial candidate and former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks throughout a mayoral debate, in New York, Oct. 16, 2025.Angelina Katsanis/Pool by way of REUTERS
On Friday, Cuomo informed conservative discuss radio host Sid Rosenberg the alternative: that Mamdani uncovered himself as a fraud through the debate.
“I think Mamdani got exposed, I think there’s no there there, he changes his answers, and I think it was obvious yesterday,” Cuomo stated. “I got a chance to call him on a few of them and he did a total flip-flop.”
The previous governor has gone after Mamdani for shifting towards the middle on a few of the more durable left stances he embraced earlier than operating for mayor. For example, Mamdani has disavowed previous social media posts wherein he endorsed defunding the police and known as the NYPD racist.
Mamdani, who holds a commanding polling lead over Cuomo, expressed that he not sees the previous governor’s candidacy as a lot of a menace to his successful the final election.
“He has a very narrow path to winning this race, because what New Yorkers saw is the fact that it’s more of the same with Andrew Cuomo,” Mamdani stated about Cuomo’s debate efficiency. “It’s more of the same with the affordability crisis. It’s more of the same with the style of politics. It’s more of the same with the cow town to the very billionaires who gave us Donald Trump.”
The Democratic nominee’s feedback got here in response to Cuomo telling Rosenberg that will probably be “very, very hard mathematically” for him to win the race if Sliwa stays in. The previous governor picked up a major 10% increase when present Mayor Eric Adams exited the race late final month, however that was not sufficient to catch as much as Mamdani.
Cuomo insisted, as he has repeatedly, that Sliwa is “a spoiler,” who will hand the mayoralty to Mamdani by splitting the average and Republican votes between the 2 of them.
“There’s no way he wins, but all he can do is make Mamdani a winner,” Cuomo stated, whereas charging that the Republican County celebration bosses who nominated Sliwa need Mamdani to function a GOP bogeyman. “That’s why the bosses are keeping him there.”
Sliwa, throughout a Friday morning interview on Pix11, rejected that notion, charging that Cuomo has already “tossed in the towel” by saying he can’t win until Sliwa drops out.
“He’s already given up, going no mas, no mas,” Sliwa stated of Cuomo. “He lost the primary, he’s just admitted he can’t win if I’m in the race. So, why not Andrew Cuomo drop out?”
