00:00And I allocated more funding for housing than any governor in the history of the state of
00:05New York.
00:06You could turn on TV any day of the week and you will hear Donald Trump share that
00:11his pick for mayor is Andrew Cuomo.
00:14And he wants Andrew Cuomo to be the mayor, not because it will be good for New Yorkers,
00:18but because it will be good for him.
00:20Protest, demonstrate, disagree, God bless America, God bless New York City.
00:26And there is no doubt that there's two sides on what's going on and the passions are very
00:30high.
00:31I understand my friend doesn't really understand government.
00:38The governor doesn't build housing in New York City.
00:41Not if it's you.
00:42No.
00:43No, legally there are jurisdictions.
00:47The governor doesn't pick up trash, he doesn't run the fire department.
00:50That's what the mayor does.
00:51The mayor builds housing.
00:53The state allocates funding for localities.
00:56And I allocated more funding for housing than any governor in the history of the state of
01:02New York.
01:03All right?
01:04I did things.
01:06You have never had a job.
01:08You've never accomplished anything.
01:10There's no reason to believe you have any merit or qualification for 8.5 million lives.
01:17You don't know how to run a government.
01:18You don't know how to handle an emergency.
01:21And you've literally never proposed a bill on anything that you're not talking about
01:26in your campaign.
01:27You had the worst attendance record in the assembly.
01:31And you gave yourselves the highest raise in the United States of America.
01:38You went from $110,000 to $140,000.
01:42And then you never showed up for work and you missed 80% of the votes.
01:46Shame on you.
01:47Shame on you.
01:48Good evening.
01:49Thank you to the moderators and thank you to New Yorkers for tuning in.
01:52I know you'd rather be watching the Knicks.
01:55While there are three candidates on this stage, you will hear only two messages.
01:59My opponents, who spend more time trying to convince the other to drop out than actually
02:03proposing their own policies, will speak only of the past because that's all that they know.
02:08I am the sole candidate running with a vision for the future of this city.
02:13Andrew Cuomo will spend much of tonight attacking me.
02:17He is a desperate man, lashing out because he knows that the one thing he's always cared
02:21about, power, is now slipping away from him.
02:24He will amplify right-wing talking points, he will share conspiracy theories, and he
02:27will do these things to make you feel that this should keep you up at night.
02:31But I've been spending the last year listening to New Yorkers, and I know what actually keeps
02:35you up.
02:36It's whether or not you can afford to live a safe and dignified life in this city.
02:40I have plans for our future.
02:41My opponents only have fear.
02:44We first just heard from the Republican candidate for mayor, and then we heard from Donald Trump's
02:49puppet himself, Andrew Cuomo.
02:51You could turn on TV any day of the week, and you will hear Donald Trump share that his
02:56pick for mayor is Andrew Cuomo.
02:58And he wants Andrew Cuomo to be the mayor not because it will be good for New Yorkers,
03:02but because it will be good for him.
03:04Look, Donald Trump ran on three promises.
03:06He ran on creating the single largest deportation force in American history, he ran on going after
03:11his political enemies, and he ran on lowering the cost of living.
03:14If he wants to talk to me about the third piece of that agenda, I will always be ready
03:19and willing.
03:20He wants to talk about how to pursue the first and second piece of that agenda at the expense
03:24of New Yorkers.
03:25President Trump has to respect you.
03:28He sent the National Guard into 20 cities.
03:30City he didn't send it into?
03:32New York.
03:33Because I talked to him and I said, we don't need you here.
03:37He has said he'll take over New York if Mondami wins, and he will, because he has no respect
03:43for him.
03:44He thinks he's a kid and he's going to knock him on his tuchus.
03:47Yeah, the difference on this question is, I've actually lived it and I've done it with
03:52President Trump over many years through the most difficult situation that this country
03:57has gone through, COVID plus.
04:00You're wrong.
04:02You're going to have to confront President Trump.
04:05He is hyper aggressive and he is going to overstep his bounds.
04:10And you are going to have to confront him.
04:12And you can beat him.
04:13I confronted him and I have beaten him.
04:16He was going to quarantine New York during COVID.
04:19And I stopped him.
04:20He was going to cut aid to federal programs and I stopped him.
04:25But you also want to be in a place where you can cooperate on good things because we need
04:30federal help if we're going to save our city and rebuild our city.
04:35Mr. Cuomo, in 2021, 13 different women who worked in your administration incredibly accused
04:42you of sexual harassment.
04:45Since then, you have spent more than $20 million in taxpayer funds to defend yourself
04:50all while describing these allegations as entirely political.
04:57You have even gone so far as to legally go after these women.
05:01One of those women, Charlotte Bennett, is here in the audience this evening.
05:07You sought to access her private gynecological records.
05:12She cannot speak up for herself because you lodged a defamation case against her.
05:17I, however, can speak.
05:19What do you say to the 13 women that you sexually harassed?
05:27If you want to be in government, then you have to be serious and mature.
05:38There were allegations of sexual harassment.
05:41They then went to five district attorneys, fully litigated for four years.
05:46The cases were dropped, right?
05:49You know that as a fact.
05:50So everything you just stated, you just said was a misstatement, which we're accustomed to
05:54from you.
05:55Everything that I stated was a misstatement?
05:56Yes, because the cases, the cases were dropped.
06:01That's what happened.
06:02And my question to you, you still didn't answer, why won't you say BDS against Uganda if it's
06:09saying gays should be imprisoned for being gay?
06:13Okay.
06:14There's no problem with BDS against Israel, but no BDS for Uganda.
06:19Excuse me.
06:20Excuse me.
06:21Mr. Cuomo, it's my turn, all right?
06:24It's like two kids in a schoolyard.
06:27Yeah.
06:27I heard you on the radio this morning.
06:29John, this is personal for me.
06:31I know you are under threat.
06:32The mother of my two youngest sons who were raised Jewish, Melinda Katz, is prosecuting
06:37this person who came up and tried to do you harm.
06:40But let me speak on behalf of my two sons.
06:43When they've heard some of the statements you've made, like in support of global jihad, and
06:49I hear some people out there saying the Jews, their time is due, which means the same thing.
06:54They're frightened.
06:55They're scared.
06:56They view you as the arsonist who fanned the flames of anti-Semitism.
07:02They cannot suddenly accept the fact that you're coming in like a firefighter and you're
07:07going to put out these flames.
07:08Sometimes you've got a lot of explaining to do, a lot of apologizing to do.
07:14My sons are afraid.
07:15Their family, their friends, many in the Jewish community are concerned if you become mayor
07:20because they don't think when anti-Semitism rears its ugly head, which it's now doing
07:26more than ever before, that you will have the ability to come in and put out those flames
07:31of hate.
07:32I heard the both of them again fighting like kids in the schoolyard.
07:35Joran, your resume could fit on a cocktail napkin.
07:41And Andrew, your failures could fill a public school library in New York City.
07:48You know, not everything is a TikTok video.
07:51You're the savior of the Jewish people.
07:53You won't denounce, globalize the Intifada, which means kill Jews.
07:56There's unprecedented fear in New York.
08:01It was not several rabbis, Errol.
08:03It was 650 rabbis who signed the letter.
08:07Not several.
08:09Protests demonstrate disagree.
08:11God bless America.
08:12God bless New York City.
08:14And there is no doubt that there's two sides on what's going on and the passions are very
08:18high.
08:19That doesn't, that doesn't justify anti-Semitic behavior in New York.
08:24It doesn't justify having a Jewish population that feels unprotected in New York.
08:31It doesn't, it doesn't justify leaders who stoke the flames of hatred against Jewish people,
08:39which is what Zoran does in my opinion.
08:41Zoran, this is personal for me.
08:44I know you are under threat.
08:45The mother of my two youngest sons who were raised Jewish, Melinda Katz, is prosecuting
08:50this person who came up and tried to do you harm.
08:53But let me speak on behalf of my two sons.
08:56When they've heard some of the statements you've made, like in support of global jihad,
09:02and I hear some people out there saying the Jews, their time is due, which means the same
09:06thing.
09:07They're frightened.
09:08They're scared.
09:08They view you as the arsonist who fanned the flames of anti-Semitism.
09:15They cannot suddenly accept the fact that you're coming in like a firefighter and you're
09:20going to put out these flames.
09:22You've got a lot of explaining to do, a lot of apologizing to do.
09:27My sons are afraid.
09:28Their family, their friends, many in the Jewish community are concerned if you become mayor
09:33because they don't think when anti-Semitism rears its ugly head, which it's now doing
09:39more than ever before, that you will have the ability to come in and put out those flames
09:44of hate.
09:44I think there is room for disagreement on many positions and many policies, but I also want
09:55to correct the record.
09:56I have never, not once, spoken in support of global jihad.
10:01That is not something that I have said, and that continues to be ascribed to me, and frankly,
10:06I think much of it has to do with the fact that I am the first Muslim candidate to be
10:09on the precipice of winning this election.
10:12Now, I, all the same, Curtis, I do still want to be the mayor that will keep your sons safe,
10:22that will keep every single New Yorker safe, and it is my job to not only deliver on that
10:27commitment, but also to ensure that New Yorkers feel it every single day that they live in
10:31this city.
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