There has, of course, been a lot going on in the New York City mayoral primary race over the last week, with Democrat Socialist candidate Zohran Mamdani shocking many political observers by finishing ahead of disgraced former NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo last Tuesday.
Though rank-choice votes have yet to be allocated, Cuomo has already conceded, yet reportedly will remain in the race as his “Fight & Deliver” Party's candidate on a ballot line he had previously secured, according to CNN.
Meanwhile, Mayor Eric Adams has hit the ground running in his independent bid for reelection, officially launching his general election campaign last Thursday and taking direct aim at Mamdani and his socialist policies.
READ MORE: NYC Mayor Adams Shows He Isn't Giving Up: He's in the Game Now
On Friday, Adams appeared on CNN for an interview, where "The Lead" anchor Jake Tapper predictably was acting as a Mamdani spokesman, proclaiming the New York Assemblyman would have the authority as mayor to do what he's pledged to do while also playing gotcha with Adams on the issue of Mamdani's support for Hamas.
What happened was a pretty epic schooling on what Mamdani actually could and could not do as mayor, along with some receipt dropping on that Hamas support.
Here's the relevant part of the transcript:
TAPPER: So, I want to turn to your likely Democratic challenger, Mamdani, because you said recently that the Jewish community in New York should be concerned about him. Youve accused him of using antisemitic rhetoric. What specifically has Mamdani said that you think is antisemitic?
ADAMS: Pro-Hamas. Hamas is a dangerous terrorist organization that should be destroyed. When you embrace the philosophies of Hamas, not only what they do to their own people, but what they did in Gaza, to lift them up and praise them, I think that's a clear indicator that something is wrong with that. But he has. And when did he -- when did he praise Hamas?
TAPPER: I don't recall him ever praising Hamas.
ADAMS: There's several -- there's several videos. Even during his days of being a rap artist, of praising Hamas and other terrorist groups. And so, little research, you'll be able to find it.
But I'm not -- I'm not competing against him only for what he's done and praising Hamas. I'm competing against him because this is not a socialist city, and that much of what he's promising to people, which I think is really deplorable, people that are struggling like my family did of living without the means that we needed.
When you promise them that you're going to give everything away for free and you don't have the authority as the mayor to do so, he doesn't have the authority to raise income tax on the top 1 percent of New Yorkers, assemblymen have that authority, and that's who he is. He couldn't do it in assembly. How are you going to deliver it as the mayor of the city?
TAPPER: Well, he has -- I mean, he obviously caught the imagination of a lot of Democratic voters. His victory was pretty handy. He -- he's talking about rent freezes, which he does have the power to do, free bus service, universal child care, child care, creating city-run grocery stores. Do you disagree with those programs, or just he doesn't have the authority to do it on his own?
ADAMS: Let's go back. You said rent freeze. 'He has the authority to do so.' No, he does not. There's an independent rent guideline boards that independently make that decision. So he does not have the authority to do that. He had the authority to do free buses. I gave him a pilot project to do when he was in the assembly. He failed to carry out on it.
Watch:
Jake Tapper to Mayor Adams:
— Jacob N. Kornbluh (@jacobkornbluh) June 29, 2025
When did [Mamdani] praise Hamas? I don't recall him ever praising Hamas.
Adams: “There's several videos, even during his days of being a rap artist, of praising Hamas and other terrorist groups.”
pic.twitter.com/4fQDnFUXBJ
And because Jake Tapper and CNN can't be bothered to do any research on their shiny new socialist toy, here are some more receipts:
In 2017, Zohran Mamdani praised the Holy Land 5 — criminals convicted of providing material support to Hamas terrorists.
— Noa Tishby (@noatishby) June 25, 2025
He now wants to be mayor of America’s largest city.
This should alarm anyone who cares about freedom, safety, and Western values.@OutnumberedFNC @FoxNews pic.twitter.com/C47ta0Cuos
Socialist NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani once rapped about his ‘love’ for Hamas terror-funding group ‘Holy Land Five’ https://t.co/N1Oe3U58t9 pic.twitter.com/07UnIezYTd
— New York Post (@nypost) June 21, 2025
Resurfaced photo shows NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani with leftist streamer Hasan Piker, who once said America ‘deserved’ 9/11. pic.twitter.com/0NAobLwSLd
— NewsWire (@NewsWire_US) June 22, 2025
The guy's a communist, he's antisemitic and pro-Hamas, and breaks bread with far-left podcasters who believe New Yorkers deserved 9/11. Surely the Big Apple can do better than this, right?
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