Andrew Cuomo reportedly challenged his New York City mayoral opponent, Zohran Mamdani, to participate in five debates, one in each of the city’s boroughs, during a press conference Thursday in Manhattan’s Upper West Side, Fox News reports. Cuomo criticized Mamdani for avoiding direct responses to questions and shifting his positions during the campaign. “When you try to ask [Mamdani] a question, he simply does not answer and obfuscates,” Cuomo said. “I won’t let him get away with it, and New Yorkers won’t either.”
In response, Mamdani, who describes himself as a democratic socialist, proposed a counter-challenge: instead of debating Cuomo, he suggested debating President Donald Trump. “Let’s cut out the middleman,” Mamdani’s campaign told Fox News Digital. “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.”
The debate challenge exchange occurs amid reports that President Trump and his administration are possibly offering jobs to incumbent Mayor Eric Adams and GOP candidate Curtis Sliwa. This is believed to be a strategy to clear the field for Cuomo. Cuomo said he is aware of these media reports but has “no idea” if they are accurate, adding he has not communicated with Adams or Trump about the matter.
“I know nothing about that speculation,” Cuomo said. Meanwhile, neither Adams nor his team responded to requests for comment. Media reports indicated that Adams met with a Trump advisor in Florida to discuss a potential job.
Cuomo positioned himself as a moderate left alternative to Mamdani, describing Mamdani’s policy proposals as “absurd,” “out of the mainstream,” and “discordant with what New Yorkers believe.” Cuomo also proposed that all candidates except Mamdani pledge to withdraw from the race if they are trailing in the polls by mid-September, aiming to unite behind the candidate best positioned to defeat Mamdani. Adams rejected this idea, and Sliwa dismissed Cuomo and Adams as not being the frontrunners for New Yorkers.
Sliwa called the mayoral race a contest mainly between himself and Mamdani, asserting that he has the experience and determination to defeat Mamdani. “This is a race between the two major party nominees, myself and Mamdani, and New Yorkers know I’m the only one with the experience and grit to take him on,” Sliwa told Fox News Digital. He also criticized Mamdani’s response to Cuomo’s debate challenge as an attempt to distract from what Sliwa termed Mamdani’s radical agenda.
Mamdani “is desperate to distract from his own radical agenda, so he hides behind cheap theatrics,” Sliwa remarked.
