New York mayoral front-runner Zohran Mamdani is daring President Donald Trump to a televised debate, asserting that the White House is trying to meddle in the closely watched race.
According to the New York Post, Mamdani’s challenge came Thursday after former Gov. Andrew Cuomo called on the self-styled Democratic Socialist to debate him once in each of the Big Apple’s five boroughs.
“Let’s cut out the middleman,” Mamdani told the outlet. “Why should I debate Donald Trump’s puppet when I could debate Donald Trump himself?”
Mamdani, who trounced Cuomo in an upset in the June Democratic primary, accused the president of involving himself in the city election and reiterated claims that Trump had discussed the race with Cuomo on the phone.
“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,” Mamdani said.
Reports on Wednesday indicated that New York Mayor Eric Adams, who is running for reelection as an independent, had entered discussions with the White House over a potential job in the Trump administration.
Long-shot candidates have reportedly come under increasing pressure from Trump surrogates and officials to drop out of the race and consolidate support around the strongest challenger to Mamdani.
That would greatly benefit Cuomo, the highest-polling candidate after Mamdani, as he seeks to defeat the Queens assemblyman in the November general election.
On Thursday, Adams dismissed speculation that he might drop out of the mayoral race in exchange for a White House job, telling reporters, “Right now, I’m the mayor of the city of New York.”
In a video on Wednesday, Mamdani told voters that he would not take part in any debates outside of the two set up by the city’s Campaign Finance Board for October.
“In the meantime, I won’t be at this televised circus,” Mamdani said.
Earlier on Thursday, Cuomo blasted Mamdani for refusing to participate in debates being proposed by CBS News and PIX11.
“New Yorkers deserve answers,” Cuomo said. “I challenge him to five debates, one in every borough where we speak about the issues in that borough.”
Newsmax reached out to the White House for comment but did not receive an immediate response.
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