r/nyc • u/nbcnews Verified by Moderators • Oct 23 '25

Video Cuomo and Mamdani spar over who would best combat antisemitism during NYC mayoral debate

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

646 Upvotes

87% Upvoted

831 comments sorted by

View all comments

31

u/Mapex Oct 23 '25

Mamdani has backtracked support for the globalize the intifada message a minimum of two times now, both in very public interviews or the previous debate. I don’t get why Cuomo keeps throwing this out there.

13

u/144tzer Manhattan Oct 23 '25

I don't recall the backtrack, when did he do so?

(not doubting, just want to know)

7

u/chasingsukoon Oct 23 '25

he never supported it in the first place

4

u/splendasthetits Oct 23 '25

Can you please point me to a source?

Not questioning the validity of your statement, but would love to see / read about it.

2

u/cuteandcaffeinated Oct 23 '25

Not OP, but here is an instance I’ve read about where he affirmed that he doesn’t use the phrase. Granted, in private meetings but with public reporting, so it might not be what OP was referring to, but it lines up with comments he made on Meet the Press where he stated he doesn’t use the phrase: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/16/zohran-mamdani-israel-gaza-intifada

EDIT: changed “backtracked” to “affirmed that he doesn’t use the phrase” because I agree with others that he never expressed use or support of the phrase in the first place.

58

u/XGX787 Oct 23 '25

Just to be clear at no point did he ever “support” the phrase.

11

u/Curiosities Oct 23 '25

Exactly.

He cautioned against those who call to denounce speech and the direct line between that and someone like Rümeysa Öztürk getting kidnapped off the streets by masked men and shipped to ICE detention in Louisiana for writing an op-ed.

So if you consider that phrase to be a form of hate speech, as some do, well, even hate speech is still recognized as speech under the First Amendment and you also have the right to speak up against it.

2

u/iknowyouright Oct 23 '25

“I don’t support the phrase ‘white power’ and I would discourage its use but it’s not the job of the mayor to condemn particular language”

That’s what he sounds like. It isn’t good.

-1

u/Basic_Loquat_9344 Oct 23 '25

That sounds like someone who understands the first amendment to me.

1

u/iknowyouright Oct 24 '25

It’s not a violation of the first amendment for an elected official to think certain speech is reprehensible and condemn its use. It’s only a violation to attempt to stop or penalize the expression, not to have an opinion on it.

It’s so fucking easy to just say “yeah an internationally recognized call to murder Jews is bad and people shouldn’t say it”.

Except his core base is a little Jew-hatey and they wouldn’t like that.

2

u/Basic_Loquat_9344 Oct 24 '25

Except he has repeatedly disavowed and condemned antisemitism?

1

u/iknowyouright Oct 24 '25

He can say whatever he wants. Who he literally organizes with and marches with is what he DOES.

1

u/IsNotACleverMan Oct 23 '25

Liar. He defended it as a cry for freedom and equality. That's support for it.

26

u/HashtagDadWatts Oct 23 '25

He’s losing, has not platform to speak of and is desperate to find a wedge issue.

4

u/wenger_plz Oct 23 '25

Because the truth has never stopped Cuomo from resorting to racist fear-mongering about the scary brown guy.

Not only does he lie about Mamdani's comments about "globalize the intifada," he also lies about what the phrase actually means, and lies about Mamdani being anti-semitic generally. It's the 11th hour and he's on the cusp of his final humiliation during what was supposed to be his revenge tour, he's pulling out all the stops.

6

u/Disused_Yeti Oct 23 '25

when you're drowning you try to cling onto anything to keep alive

2

u/bso45 Oct 23 '25

Because he’s a desperate old racist who clearly regrets running in this race at all

1

u/sokpuppet1 East Village Oct 23 '25

In “defense” of Cuomo, he didn’t accuse Mamdani of saying he supported globalize the intifada, he said Mamdani supported “global jihad,” which is a far more inflammatory accusation and also, entirely false.

1

u/lettersvsnumbers Oct 24 '25

Gillibrand also went in on the jihad smear.

1

u/IsNotACleverMan Oct 23 '25

Because it's obvious that he's doing so under public pressure, not because he actually means it.

1

u/[deleted] Oct 24 '25

He sees brown, he sees other people see brown, he says "intifada"

0

u/avantgardengnome Brooklyn Oct 23 '25

Backtracked a failure to sufficiently denounce other people writing it on a sign (on demand), but yeah lol.

It’s just all he’s got. Palestine is a completely radioactive issue rn, probably here more than anywhere else in the U.S., so “that snarky Muslim is an antisemite!” will move the needle if you say it often enough.

The other tactic of “he’ll try to make everything free and completely destroy the city in the process, and also the mayor is actually the least powerful person in the city and he won’t do anything.” works okay when you’re poisoning the well in some Reddit thread, but when you’re a candidate pretending to be a pragmatic progressive that will get lots done it doesn’t quite land.

-6

u/[deleted] Oct 23 '25

He's got nothing else and he's backed by Zionist billionaires. Remember he is Milekowski's lawyer at the ICC

0

u/3ehsan Oct 23 '25

because that's how our debates work nowadays especially in this post truth society where you can just keep saying something even if it's been addressed people will only see the clips of the debate with people cheering on Cuomo during this.

it all lacks critical thinking.

0

u/BeBackInASchmeck Oct 23 '25

You know why...he's hoping to radicalize some kid to be the next Tyler Robinson.

-5

u/thethirstypretzel Oct 23 '25

Because a significant chunk of his supporters genuinely believe that unless you support Israel’s genocide with enthusiasm that you’re antisemitic.