All three candidates for NEw York City governor debated Wednesday night. From left to right: Andrew Cuomo, Curtis Sliwa and Zohran Mamdani. (Photo by Angelina Katsanis-Pool/Getty Images)
"My main opponent has no new ideas. He has no new plan. … He's never run anything, managed anything. He's never had a real job," Cuomo said of Mamdani during the debate. Cuomo also branded Mamdani as someone who has proven to be "a divisive force in New York," pointing to past incidents that have garnered Mamdani heat from critics.
One of those incidents included a picture he took with a hard-lined Ugandan lawmaker who has pushed policies of imprisoning people for being gay, which Mamdani took while taking a break from the campaign trail to visit his home country of Uganda for a wedding. Cuomo also hit the controversy over whether Mamdani supports Jewish New Yorkers, as his critics have claimed he is anti-Israel pointing to statements he has made, like "globalize the intifada."
Cuomo also accused Mamdani of disrespecting Italian-Americans after a video of him surfaced giving the middle finger to a statue of Christopher Columbus, while also pointing to criticism the self-proclaimed socialist candidate has garnered from 9/11 first-responders after posting a photo with a Muslim cleric who served as a character witness for the mastermind behind the September 11, 2001 attacks.
TOP 5 MOMENTS FROM FIERY NYC MAYORAL DEBATE: 'HE LITERALLY HAS NEVER HAD A JOB'
New York City mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo slammed his democratic socialist opponent Zohran Mamdani during Wednesday's debate for a variety of alleged scandals he has been involved in. (Angelina Katsanis/Getty; Angelina Katsanis/Getty)
"Mr. Cuomo. In 2021, 13 different women who worked in your administration credibly accused you of sexual harassment. Since then, you have spent more than $20 million in taxpayer funds to defend yourself, all while describing these allegations as entirely political," Mamdani said while attacking Cuomo Wednesday night.
"You have even gone so far as to legally go after these women. One of those women, Charlotte Bennett, is here in the audience this evening. You sought to access her private gynecological records. She cannot speak up for herself because you lodged a defamation case against her. I, however, can speak. What do you say to the 13 women that you sexually harassed?"
Cuomo, in 2021, was accused of multiple incidents of sexual harassment that preceded his resignation as governor that year. A subsequent report from New York Attorney General Letitia James confirmed Cuomo "sexually harassed multiple women from 2013 through 2020," while in January 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice announced it had reached a nearly $500,000 settlement with Cuomo's executive office over one of the claims. However, no criminal charges were ever filed against Cuomo, with some district attorneys citing insufficient evidence.
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Cuomo defended himself against Mamdani's accusations, noting the cases were eventually dropped, before returning to questions about Mamdani's alleged past.
Meanwhile, Sliwa didn't skip an opportunity to slam Cuomo over the sexual assault allegations either, saying early in the debate during a discussion about homelessness that Cuomo "fled" the governor's office amid an impeachment inquiry that was investigating him.
"Andrew, you didn't ‘leave.’ You fled from being impeached by the Democrats in the state legislature," Sliwa began before getting into the homelessness issue, earning him a round-of-applause from the audience.
"'Leave?' You fled!" Sliwa continued to applause. "But let's get back on topic."
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https://www.foxnews.com/politics/sparks-fly-cuomo-mamdani-tear-into-each-other-during-fiery-debate