Trump Takes Centre Stage on NYC Mayoral Debate:Cuomo & Mamdani Clash Over Who Can Confront President

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The NYC mayoral race erupted into an explosive showdown as Andrew Cuomo, Zohran Mamdani, and Curtis Sliwa clashed over President Trump’s influence in the city. Mamdani called Cuomo 'Trump’s puppet,' promising to fight the president on deportations while addressing affordability. Cuomo fired back, warning of a 'President Trump and a Mayor Trump' scenario if Mamdani wins, claiming Trump could take over the city. Sliwa weighed in, suggesting he is the candidate best equipped to confront Trump.    The fiery exchange highlights deep divisions over federal influence, law enforcement, and leadership in one of America’s most high-stakes mayoral races.      #NYC #MayoralDebate #AndrewCuomo #ZohranMamdani #CurtisSliwa #Trump #NYPolitics #NYCMayor #Election2025 #USPolitics #DebateHighlights #ExplosiveDebate #FieryExchange #BreakingNews #PoliticalDrama

Transcript

00:00Let me ask a related question. President Trump has been commenting on this race and all of you

00:08on a regular basis. He's been less than glowing when talking about each of you, especially you,

00:13Mr. Mamdani. I'd like you each to describe whatever combination of defiance, diplomacy,

00:19and cooperation you will use as mayor if President Trump continues to increase the

00:25federal government's role in the affairs of our city while also threatening to decrease funding.

00:30Start with you this time, Mr. Slewell. Both my adversaries have decided to bump

00:35chess with President Trump to prove who's more macho. You can't beat Trump. He holds most of

00:41the cards. He's already cut federal funding for Medicaid, for the SNAP program, and it's threatened

00:47to cut funds for NYCHA. So if you're all of a sudden going to get adversarial, you're going to lose.

00:52And who gets hurt? The people of New York City. With Trump, it's always the art of the deal.

00:58You have to go. You have to try to negotiate, whether it's with his minions or himself.

01:03He'll want you to give in order to get a little bit. But if you immediately act like you're going

01:09to take him on, like, you know, it's going to be a one-on-one fight, we're going to lose. All the

01:13people in New York City are going to lose. You have to be able to show respect. And I think if you show

01:19respect, you'll get respect, and you'll protect the New Yorkers who are so desperately in need

01:25of federal funds, what's the good of it? They'll bump chess with Donald Trump. They won't get the

01:31money, and then they'll blame Donald Trump. I will negotiate with Donald Trump and try to get the

01:37best deal possible for our poor and indigent citizens.

01:41Okay, Mr. Cuomo.

01:44Yeah, the difference on this question is I've actually lived it, and I've done it with President

01:50Trump over many years through the most difficult situation that this country has gone through,

01:55COVID plus. You're wrong. You're going to have to confront President Trump. He is hyper-aggressive,

02:04and he is going to overstep his bounds. And you are going to have to confront him. And you can beat

02:09him. I confronted him, and I have beaten him. He was going to quarantine New York during COVID.

02:16And I stopped him. He was going to cut aid to federal programs, and I stopped him.

02:21But you also want to be in a place where you can cooperate on good things, because we need federal

02:27help if we're going to save our city and rebuild our city. President Trump has to respect you. He sent

02:35the National Guard into 20 cities. The city he didn't send it into? New York. Because I talked

02:41to him, and I said, we don't need you here. He has said he'll take over New York if Mondami wins,

02:48and he will, because he has no respect for him. He thinks he's a kid, and he's going to knock him on

02:53his tuchus. So it is a balance. But you're going to have to be adversarial when you need to,

03:00but you want to cooperate to get good things done in this city. And you need federal help.

03:06We first just heard from the Republican candidate for mayor, and then we heard from Donald Trump's

03:14puppet himself, Andrew Cuomo. You could turn on TV any day of the week, and you will hear Donald

03:20Trump share that his pick for mayor is Andrew Cuomo. And he wants Andrew Cuomo to be the mayor,

03:25not because it will be good for New Yorkers, but because it will be good for him. Look,

03:30Donald Trump ran on three promises. He ran on creating the single largest deportation force

03:34in American history. He ran on going after his political enemies, and he ran on lowering

03:38the cost of living. If he wants to talk to me about the third piece of that agenda, I

03:43will always be ready and willing. But if he wants to talk about how to pursue the first

03:47and second piece of that agenda at the expense of New Yorkers, I will fight him every single

03:51step of the way. Okay. Short rebuttal for Mr. Cuomo. That's not what Donald Trump said. Donald

04:01Trump does an analysis of the race. Donald Trump, I believe, wants Mandami. That is his dream,

04:07because he will use him politically all across the country, and he will take over New York City.

04:13Make no mistake. It will be President Trump and Mayor Trump, and he will come in and take over

04:19the city. I have no doubt. All he said was, his analysis is after the polls, it's a tough choice

04:27between a Democrat and a communist. And he considers Mandami a communist. He happens to be a socialist.

04:34But between a communist and a Democrat, it's a tough choice for him. Okay. All right. Thank you, candidates.

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