Zohran Mamdani challenges Trump to a debate
New York City mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani challenged President Donald Trump to a debate, while calling out the White House for attempting to get involved in the race. In a post to his X profile, the 33-year-old Democratic socialist said: 'Enough with the backroom scheming.
'If Donald Trump is serious about intervening in the mayoral race, he should come to New York City and debate me directly'. He made the comments after a New York Times report which said the Trump administration asked Mayor Eric Adams and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa if t hey would consider abandoning their campaigns to take federal jobs.
The idea would be to set up a head-to-head race between Mamdani and former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo , who lost out on the Democratic primary to Mamdani. On Thursday night Trump suggested that Mamdani could win the mayoral election if the field of candidates isn't cut down, before branding him a communist.
He told reporters before a White House dinner: 'I don't think you can win unless you have one on one, because somehow he's gotten a little bit of a lead. I think that's a race that could be won.' When asked by reporters if he would encourage other candidates in the race to drop out, he said no before adding: 'I don't like to see a communist become mayor, I will tell you that.'
Even if either of the men were to take Trump up on any potential offer, it would be difficult to have their names removed from the ballot in time. And it would be a substantial risk, betting on New Yorkers to rally behind Cuomo, who resigned in 2021 after multiple accusations of sexual harassment, which he denied .
Trump has consistently branded Mamdani a communist, while Mamdani previously labeled himself as 'Trump's worst nightmare'. The president went as far as threatening him with an arrest or even deportation if Mamdani defied his Immigration and Customs Enforcement earlier this year.
Mamdani was born in Uganda and immigrated to the United States at the age of seven, he became a naturalized US citizen in 2018. Trump was born in the Queens borough of the city and pushed his father's real estate business into Manhattan before turning toward politics.
He officially moved his primary residence from New York to Florida in 2019, during his first White House term. Relatively unknown when the contest began, Mamdani secured endorsements from progressives including Senator Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
On his way to trouncing the competition in the primary, Mamdani beat out Cuomo and several other candidates. His campaign ran on ideas including free public buses, rent freezes for rent-stabilized apartments, as well as grocery stores that would be owned by the city.
Many Republicans in Washington believe Mamdani becoming mayor of New York would serve them well in the midterms as they'd be able to link his extreme liberal policies to their rival Democrats.