Andrew Cuomo belittled Zohran Mamdani’s lack of experience. The Democrat countered that his much older opponents ‘speak only in the past because that is all they know’
The second and final debate before early voting in New York City’s mayoral race was a bitter affair, with sharp exchanges and few courtesies.
Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee, worked to defend his polling lead while his chief rival, Andrew Cuomo, sought to puncture his credibility – dismissing the 34-year-old state lawmaker as a “kid” who, he said, Donald Trump would knock on his “tuchus”.
Over the course of the hour and a half forum, the deep seated-rivalry between Mamdani and Cuomo – the 67-year-old former governor now running as an independent after losing the Democratic primary – dominated the stage.
“Like two kids in a schoolyard,” said the swaggering Republican nominee, Curtis Sliwa, who has defied pleas by Cuomo, wealthy donors and even his own former employer to drop out of the race.
