A standout moment of New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani‘s interview with Fox News came when he looked into the camera and spoke directly to Donald Trump, figuring he may be watching.
The leading candidate in the upcoming mayor’s race, Mamdani has been a frequent target of many a Fox News commentator, and Trump himself, as they push notions of an out-of-control excesses far left. The president has talked of withholding federal funds if he is elected.
“I just want to speak directly to the president, which is that I will not be a mayor like Mayor Adams who will call you to figure out how to stay out of jail,” he said. “I won’t be a disgraced governor like Andrew Cuomo who will call you to ask how to win this election. I can do those things on my own. I will, however, be a mayor who is ready to speak at any time to lower the cost of living. That’s the way I am going to lead this city.”
Mamdani has deployed a strategy of blanketing all types of media, but with just a few more weeks until the election, he had yet to sit down with the most-watched news network.
During the 25 minute interview, an ever-smiling Mamdani seemed to respond to anchor Martha MacCallum‘s questions with ease. At points, he side-stepped her questions to return to his laser-focused campaign theme of affordability.
That was true even as MacCallum pressed him on Gaza.
MacCallum asked, “Do you believe that Hamas should lay down their weapons and leave the leadership in Gaza?”
“I believe that any future here in New York City is one that we have to make sure is affordable for all, and as it pertains to Israel and Palestine, that we have to ensure that there is peace, and that is the future that we have to fight for,” he said.
She asked again, “But you won’t say that Hamas should lay down their arms and give up leadership in Gaza.”
Mamdani responded, “I don’t really have opinions about the future of Hamas and Israel, beyond the question of justice and safety and the fact that anything has to abide by international law. And that applies to Hamas, that applies to the Israeli military, applies to anyone you could ask me about.”
At another point, in a discussion about crime, MacCallum asked Mamdani about a recent killing in which a man was brutally beaten at a Brooklyn subway station. The suspect, she noted, had 33 past arrests and was awaiting trial for attacking someone else.
“They lowered his bail so he could get out,” MacCallum said, the noting that Mamdani was in favor of bail reform. She asked, “Does that make you want to change your mind or thing twice about reversing that?”
“This is a horrific incident, and it’s the same video that I saw, and it’s one the horrifes New Yorkers acress the five burroughs, and it’s completely unacceptable and what it makes me think about is the necessity of providing public safety in our New York City subway system and across the five boroughs. And also, how do we end the revolving door? Because when you look further into the case of whether this individual or so many individuals, especially those suffering from mental health issues, what we find is so often the only mental health system that we have that’s functioning in the city is Rikers Island. 40% of the incarcerated population there. Why was he on the street? Because we have a broken system.”
MacCallum, though, again noted that the suspect’s bail had been lowered.
“What would stop him, in your administration, from being on the street?”
“Because what we would do is actually address the systemic problems,” Mamdani said. “That would ensure that someone who goes to the system this many times is actually his issues are addressed, the services are provided. Right now, all we have is going in and out, especially when it comes to mental health.”
More to come.
