Aside from one of them being born in the New York borough of Queens and the other representing that borough in the New York State Assembly, President Donald Trump doesn’t appear to have a lot in common with Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for mayor of New York.
Having won the Democratic primary, Mamdani is currently in a four-way general election campaign against the Republican nominee, Curtis Sliwa, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and incumbent mayor Eric Adams. Adams was elected as a Democrat, but is running for re-election as an independent. He was hit with a federal corruption indictment last year, but the Trump Administration dropped the case, as part of a highly controversial move.
Zohran Mamdani Just Challenged Trump to a Debate https://t.co/t90le8tfkA
— The New Republic (@newrepublic) September 5, 2025
Trump, clearly interested in an election in his hometown, has frequently denounced Mamdani as a “communist” — he is a Democratic socialist, but does not use the Communist label — and is also reportedly actively intervening in the primary. Politico reported this week that the Trump Administration is considering naming Adams the ambassador to Saudi Arabia, which would get him out of the mayor’s race and hurt Mamdani’s chances. It’s been reported that a job for Sliwa is a consideration as well. Adams seemed to denounce that idea.
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Ironically, this would most likely help Cuomo, who, as New York’s governor, was a leading critic of Trump during the pandemic. But Mamdani has consistently led general election polls.
Mamdani addressed all this on Friday, as well as Cuomo’s proposal for five debates against Mamdani, one in each borough.
Mamdani: Why should I debate Trump’s puppet when I could debate Trump himself? If Trump is serious about this, he should come to New York City. We can have as many debates as he wants about why he is cutting snap benefits for hungry New Yorkers just to fund tax cuts for his… pic.twitter.com/nyHNHzAR6R
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 5, 2025
“Let’s cut out the middleman,” Mamdani told CBS. “Why should I debate Donald Trump’s puppet when I could debate Donald Trump himself?”
It’s not clear if Mamdani is serious about actually wanting to debate Trump. But it’s just the sort of offbeat thing that isn’t hard to imagine in the Trump era, especially after Trump held a nontraditionally-timed debate with Joe Biden in June of last year. Trump, however, did not participate in any primary debates in the 2024 cycle.
Photo courtesy of the Political Tribune media library.
