NEW YORK CITY- In an interview this week at a public safety forum at Columbia University’s journalism school, Marxist commie mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani fulfilled an old adage coined by the late, great Rush Limbaugh…he is all symbolism over substance.
Mamdani refused to or couldn’t answer simple questions posed by the moderator, engaging in mind-numbing, bloviating non-answers to questions, The New York Post reported. Some Mamdani watchers claim that the blush is coming off the road, especially over the past few days.
When asked if he supported school safety agents working in the Big Apple’s public schools, Mamdani hedged, deflected, and did not answer the question, instead complaining about a “broken status quo.”
“I think it is an indication of this broken status quo that we have many schools where they will have a school safety agent, but they will not have a nurse or a social worker…and I’ve been critical of that approach to our school system,” Mamdani complained to moderator Errol Louis.
Does he support school safety agents as a general policy? He didn’t answer.
The forum continued a series of media interviews where Mamdani engaged in Kamala Harris-like word salads, going on tangents that offered no substance.
Mamdani, who has publicly called for a global intifada against Israel, advocated defunding the New York City Police Department and eliminating the “carceral system” he complains discriminates against people of color, is being revealed as being in over his head to lead the largest, and some might say most important, city in the nation, political observers and consultants have said, along with anyone with two eyes that are functioning.
Mamdani has also called for significant tax increases on “billionaires,” free public transportation, city-owned grocery stores, and a substantial increase in the city’s minimum wage.
“He is about to find out charisma and charm are not the answers,” one longtime political operative, whom The Post didn’t identify, said.
“Tough choices have to be made, and as the young, inexperienced front-runner, he doesn’t want to make them. It’s understandable, but not necessarily acceptable.
In an interview last Friday on CNN, Mamdani was asked by feckless host Abby Phillip if he would request the National Guard to be stationed at the city’s subways in response to President Trump’s threat to send federal agents to New York.
“We have a responsibility to address the struggles that New Yorkers are living through. And one thing I’ll say about Donald Trump is he often diagnoses actual despair that people are living through,” not answering Phillip’s question.
Mandani was reminded that at one time, he had said billionaires shouldn’t exist, yet he has accepted campaign money from groups tied to billionaire George Soros, and whether he had the same thoughts about trillionaires, to which he again deflected.
“I think the better question is whether working people should exist, because what we’re seeing right now is amidst this incredible wealth, we have people who are keeping the city running that have to now live outside the city, outside the state,” he said.
The Post said things didn’t improve for Mamdani on Sunday, when he appeared on CBS2 New York’s “The Point with Marcia Kramer.”
Asked about his more controversial positions, such as calling to defund the police, which he is now trying to distance himself from, he replied, “Yes, those are out of step with the campaign that we are running, and it’s been clear throughout.”
In other words, when he was an unknown state representative, Mamdani gleefully talked about defunding the police, however, now that it’s become a political liability for him, he’s trying to claim that position is “out of step” with what he’s been saying to get elected.
Mamdani then deflected to criticize the independent candidate and former New York governor Andrew Cuomo.
“It’s chiefly Andrew Cuomo–who would prefer to debate a mythical [yet verifiable] version of myself than the person who I actually am. They would prefer to focus on tweets from 2020 as opposed to the platform in 2025,” he told Kramer.
Mamdani also refused to answer a question about what he would cut from his agenda, which some say would cost the city $10 billion.
“I think this is why it’s so critical to increase revenue [aka increase taxes] on the most profitable corporations in New York City by having the same top tax rate as New Jersey,” Mamdani said. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has resisted the notion of additional tax increases coming from state lawmakers.
One political operative slammed Mandami’s plans, noting he has had three months to come up with concrete plans for his proposals, one of which included a Department of Community Safety. This $1 billion boondoggle would ostensibly take over mental health calls from the NYPD.
“But Mamdani has no plans for making any of his socialist policy initiatives a reality,” said Ken Frydman, the operative. “They’re sweet nothings to the yearning, young masses.”
During Monday’s public safety forum, Mamdani refused to answer Louis’s question about how protesters blocking traffic or bridges should be handled.
Instead of answering the question, he criticized the NYPD’s Strategic Response Group, which he has pushed to disband if elected.
“I think we have a proud history of exercising the First Amendment in this city, and it’s one that should be protected. I think much of this conversation around protest has also been a question of which police would respond to that request,” he said.
It should be noted that when a mass shooter entered a Manhattan skyscraper and killed several people in July, it was the Strategic Response Group that responded to the event.
One person who was not pleased with Mamdani’s answers at the Columbia forum was Nicole Gelinas, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute.
“If you tolerate civil disobedience, you’re going to have chaos in the city,” she said.
A Democratic operative told The Post that Mamdani is “coming back down to earth” after making lofty promises that appealed to the progressive wing of the Democratic Party.
“A mayor cannot run the city on rhetoric,” they said. “Looks like he’s ready to become the next mayor–his is already dodging questions and has developed an allergy to furnishing detailed plans just like Mayor [Eric] Adams.”
Cuomo slammed Mandami in a phone interview with The Post, painting him as a chameleon.
“He is a mythical creation–just a series of tweets and TikToks. He doesn’t exist except on social media,” Cuomo said.
Those tweets and comments include calling the NYPD “racist, anti-queer & a major threat to public safety,” specifically endorsing calls to “defund the police movement,” and saying NYPD police shouldn’t respond to domestic violence calls, among the most violent calls police officers respond to.
“If I couldn’t believe what you said before, why would I believe what you say now?” Cuomor asked about Mamdani while adding that his anti-police rhetoric has been “ugly and bizarre.”
Mamdani’s campaign, meanwhile, accused Cuomo of “hiding” and refusing to show up at the public safety program.
“Meanwhile, Zohran has always and will continue to sit down with anyone to explain his vision for a more vibrant New York City where everyone can feel safe and afford to live.”
With a defunded police department, a gutted criminal justice system, and billionaires and businesses fleeing the city and taking their tax money with them. We’ll see how that goes.
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