'What a pair': Mamdani reacts to Trump and Musk urging New Yorkers to vote for Cuomo

President Trump endorsing Andrew Cuomo in the New York City mayor's race. Just posting on social media this, he says, whether you personally like Andrew Cuomo or not, you really have no choice. You must vote for him and hope he does a fantastic job. He is capable of it. Mamdani is not.

Well, out front now, Zoran Mamdani, the candidate for New York City mayor. And so President Trump making it very clear here, there's no beating around the bush here. You really have no choice. You must vote for him. Andrew Cuomo, what do you say to that?

Look, this is something that we've been speaking about for months. We've known since the primary that Andrew Cuomo was funded by the same billionaires that gave us Donald Trump's second term. He denied that then.

He had a phone call with President Trump trying to coordinate to stop our campaign, he then denied that. And even just until these final days, he denied that he was Donald Trump's preferred candidate. But now it's written out for the entire world to see. This is the man that Donald Trump wants to be the next mayor of New York City. And not because he'll feel good for New Yorkers,

but because he'll be good for Donald Trump.

And New Yorkers are exhausted of this agenda in Washington. to see a mimic of it come here to City Hall. Do you think it will help Cuomo at all in the polls? I guess specifically if you assume that Trump's trying to talk to that 15% of people who say they're going to vote for Curtis Leela.

You know, we continue to be confident about what tomorrow will look like for us, but I do think New Yorkers must understand that Andrew Cuomo waited until the final day before the election to have this be revealed. He wanted to be able to make the message to Democrats that he was in fact the governor that he said he was, and then right at the last moment, the last opportunity to fully embrace the MAGA movement that we have long said he is tied to.

So Trump also posts, so he endorses Cuomo, okay, then he also talked about you, referring to you as a communist. I believe last time we talked, I think, I don't know how many times I've had of him calling you a communist, that's not new. But he said, if communist candidate Zoran Mamdani wins the election for mayor of New York City, it is unlikely that I will be contributing federal funds other than the very minimum as required

to my beloved first home because of the fact that as a communist, this once great city has zero chance of success or even survival. Okay, what do you think that means? Other than the very minimum as required, it could be an important clause, I suppose, in that sentence, but if he says unlikely is gonna contribute federal funds,

I mean, what happens then? What will you do if that's how he goes?

I think you can clearly see that Donald Trump is threatened by our campaign. He's threatened by it because, like his, we've diagnosed the crisis in working-class New Yorkers' lives, the cost of living. But unlike him, we're actually going to deliver on that.

And that is a contrast that he can't bear to see. Because while he is spending $300 million remodeling a White House ballroom, the same amount of money that could provide snap benefits for 100,000 New Yorkers. He's trying to make it harder for Americans across the country to actually afford groceries. And this money that we're talking about, it's money that New York City is owed. It's not Donald Trump's to decide which

city or state will get what money. This is the money that New Yorkers are owed

and this is the money that we're gonna fight for. Okay, so Trump is not the only one talking about you tonight. Elon Musk is actually talking about you. What a And he, and you know, and obviously Musk had supported him, was crucial to his election victory. They had their falling out, but they're back together again. Elon posts about you, remember to vote tomorrow in New York. Bear in mind that a vote for Curtis, referring to Curtis Lewa, whom I just mentioned,

is really a vote for mum dummy, or whatever his name is, vote Cuomo. All right, why do you think he's speaking out against you? And obviously the personal insult is in there as well. Mum dummy.

Look, I think this is one of the more expensive endorsements that Andrew Cuomo has ever gotten because it took $959 million in tax breaks that he gave Elon Musk for Elon Musk's pet projects back when Cuomo was the governor. And we're seeing the two twin architects

of this second term of Donald Trump's presidency in the president himself and Elon Musk saying clearly to New Yorkers that their candidate is Andrew Cuomo. And they've picked Andrew Cuomo because they know that he will be the puppet

that they want right here in New York City. And he's showing himself to not just be that, but also to be their parrot in the language that he's using to close out this election.

Okay, you talk about billionaires and there have been some really wealthy individuals who have come out and put money in a PAX against you in recent days, right? Former Mayor Michael Bloomberg among them. There are plenty of other business leaders who in private will have, are afraid. They have concern. There are very few who actually will talk about it publicly, but one of them is Jamie

Dimon from JPMorgan, and I'm thinking about this in light of Trump calling you a communist. Jamie Dimon did not call you a communist. He was more intellectual about it. He said, what does he really think? You know he was part of that socialist democratic thing, which literally is more Marxist than socialist.

And I read it, but I don't know what he believes in that. All right, so I guess he's basically saying he's not really sure where you stand on things. But what do you say to that concern? Is Marxist something you're comfortable with?

No, I'm a democratic socialist, and I've said it time and again. When was that quote from, from Jamie Dimon?

From Jamie Dimon, it was from Fortune last week.

Okay.

A Fortune conference last week.

Because what he's also come out and said in public is that in our success, this is something that business leaders would also hope for for the success of the city. And I put that forward to say that despite where New Yorkers may stand on my candidacy, whatever qualms they may have, they know that I'm actually being honest with them about my ideas, about who I'm looking to fight for. And that's sadly unique in this race, because what you have is someone in Andrew Cuomo who spent the entirety of a primary campaign on the premise that he was the best suited

to take on Donald Trump. And here we are with the chyron that Donald Trump is endorsing Andrew Cuomo.

So let me ask you, because that was October 17th, so it was actually a week and a half ago, but I wanna ask you because you asked me when he said that. Are you talking to him? Are people like that people that you're going to sit down with and eagerly work with or not?

Look, I'll have conversations with anyone. And I've spoken to Jamie Dimon briefly, and I've spoken to a number of other business leaders across the city about my proposals. I know that there are disagreements around my fiscal policy that I think we should raise income taxes on the top 1% of New Yorkers who make a million dollars or more a year by 2% or the fact that I think corporations' top tax rate should be matching that, what they pay in New Jersey. And still, there is room for an immense amount of agreement

on what it means to bring the city forward, and I'll always leave that door open.

So, okay. So, let me just ask you about President Obama. I know that you had a conversation with him. What was that conversation about? Your most recent one. I appreciated the conversation with President Obama

and we spoke about both the same-

The New York Post headline is that he's not endorsing him.

Yeah, well, the New York Post has a lot of fun with their headlines, to put it lightly. It was a conversation where we were speaking about the importance of hope in politics, the delivery of that kind of an agenda. And I also shared with him that the remarks that I had shared outside of a mosque in the Bronx

not too long ago was inspired in part by his remarks on race of a more perfect union many years ago. And I think there is often a tendency in our politics to think solely in a 24-hour news cycle and the need to sometimes step back and speak to the soul of a city

and not just the cycle of that city.

Do you think that he, and he's never endorsed a mayoral candidate, so that's why I'm making the point, of course, he wasn't going to endorse, but do you feel that he has your back? That there's, because there are plenty in the Democratic Party who are scared of you too, and they don't know whether you're going to succeed, if you're going to sit back and watch. Do you think he's someone who's going to be in there, you know, in it with you? Well, I appreciated the president offering

to be a sounding board. And that's exactly what we see as what the future of these next few weeks and months look like. It looks like speaking to those who've been in these very kinds of positions and putting together a team that reflects

the best and the brightest that the city in this country has to offer, and then delivering on this agenda. And that's what actually terrifies Donald Trump and Elon Musk and even Andrew Cuomo the most. It's their fear that we will, in fact, accomplish the things that we have campaigned on. And that's one place where they're actually right.

All right, Zoran Mamdani, thank you very much. Obviously, we're hours away. Yes. Hours away here. Are you ready? Do you expect it's going to be a big night for you?

I'm confident but I'll never be complacent. But look, if people want to vote for Donald Trump and Elon Musk, they should vote for Andrew Cuomo. If people want to vote for change, they should vote for me.

Alright, Zoran Mamdani, thank you very much. Alright, Zoran Mamdani, thank you very much. I appreciate it.