Mamdani Pounds Trump ‘Puppet’ Cuomo on MSNBC Hot on Heels of Blockbuster Debate

Tommy ChristopherOct 17th, 2025, 9:41 am

Queens Assemblyman and New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani (D-NY) pounded former Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) in an interview with MSNBC host and former Biden White House press secretary Jen Psaki, calling him President Donald Trump’s “puppet” just moments after concluding a blockbuster debate.

Mamdani faced off with Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa (R-NY) in a fiery debate Thursday night that included a lot of chatter about Trump.

Psaki interviewed Mamdani on Thursday’s edition of MSNBC’s The Briefing with Jen Psaki, and the candidate went right after Cuomo over Trump:

PSAKI: Joining me now for an exclusive interview following that debate is the Democratic nominee for mayor of New York City, Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani.

I should just note for viewers you just did a two-hour debate. So, I appreciate you still being able to talk and being here with me this night — this evening.

So, we watched, of course, the whole debate. For a mayoral debate, a lot of the debate was about Donald Trump and what he might try to do to the city. We played one part of it there.

But what did you make of your opponents’ answers on how and if they would stand up to Trump?

MAMDANI: You know, I think we saw the fact that while Donald Trump wasn’t on that stage, his puppet, Andrew Cuomo, was. And we saw not only just the same kind of name-calling and distractions, but the inability to stand up to the very billionaires that have been funding both the Trump administration and the Cuomo campaign.

And what New Yorkers are looking for right now as the Trump administration is detaining young girls as young as six years old and deporting them out of this city, is a mayor who will actually stand up for the people of this city.

And frankly, we did not see that in Andrew Cuomo. And we even saw more willingness to stand up from the Republican candidate, because unlike Cuomo, he can’t be bought by the same donors.

PSAKI: It’s quite a place to find yourself.

Let’s talk about a specific example, because I think the reason this question was so important is that cities like New York City and Chicago and other blue cities are just the targets by the Trump administration, as you’ve talked about.

Now, Trump is currently trying to withhold billions of dollars of infrastructure funding from New York City as part of his shutdown strategy, as you’re well aware. You talked about this a little bit in the debate, but how specifically would you respond as mayor to make sure his retribution campaign doesn’t hurt everyday New Yorkers? Because it could have a big impact if he keeps holding it back.

MAMDANI: You know, I think time and time again, we see Donald Trump try to make this into a personal battle of political retribution.

But these are attacks not on any one representative. They’re attacks on the entire city.

And what my job as mayor would be, would be to tell New Yorkers how the suspension of $18 billion would continue to trap them in bumper-to-bumper traffic. It would continue to leave them in long train delays, and it would actually rob tens of thousands of New Yorkers of the jobs that they could have if this money that were owed was actually to be delivered to us.

And what I would also do is not treat the words of Donald Trump as law, just by virtue of them coming out of his mouth. We’ve seen Democrats across the country, especially in California, come together to put together legal lawsuits that have then resulted that for every dollar they spend, more than $30,000 in federal funds being received that would have otherwise been withheld.

It’s important that we have a mayor who can work with the attorney general here, work with the governor here. I’m proud to have both of their endorsements. We would work together to protect New Yorkers from these kinds of political acts of retribution.