New York City mayoral candidates Andrew Cuomo and Zohran Mamdani. Photo by Adam Gray/Bloomberg via Getty Images and Spencer Platt/Getty Images
By Jacob Kornbluh
July 20, 2025
Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo is sharpening his attacks on Zohran Mamdani, accusing the Democratic nominee for mayor of New York City of “fueling antisemitism” — and blaming the city’s younger Jews and pro-Palestinian voters for his own primary loss.
“I would wager that in the primary, more than 50% of the Jewish people voted for Mamdani,” Cuomo told the crowd of around 450 at a breakfast event Sunday at the Hampton Synagogue. He believed they were influenced by Mamdani’s appeal to younger and first-time voters who, Cuomo said, view criticism of Israel as opposing the policies of the Israeli government in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “They are pro-Palestinian, and they don’t consider it being anti-Israel,” he said.
“We have the largest Jewish population outside of Israel, and I was proud to be the strongest advocate,” Cuomo continued. “But many, especially younger people, don’t consider saying anti-Israel is different than being antisemitic.”
Cuomo, a career Democrat, lost to Mamdani 56-44 in last month’s primary, and recently relaunched his campaign as an independent. A poll conducted a month before the primary showed Mamdani, who was surging in the polls, with 20% of support among Jewish voters.
WITH AUDIO ⬇️
Andrew Cuomo blames Zohran Mamdani’s young, Jewish and pro-Palestinian voters for his primary loss. https://t.co/KlqLzmp2nM pic.twitter.com/lrxSMHG4e4
— Jacob N. Kornbluh (@jacobkornbluh) July 20, 2025
During the primary, Cuomo said that he would adopt the controversial International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism, which labels many forms of anti-Zionism as antisemitic. Critics, including progressives and Jewish advocacy groups, warn it could chill free speech. Mayor Eric Adams, who opted out of the primary to run for reelection as an independent, signed an executive order last month implementing the IHRA definition. The move allows the city to prosecute some anti-Israel rhetoric as a hate crime.
In his remarks, Cuomo said that he would be more aggressive in drawing a contrast with Mamdani, the democratic socialist who has already reached out to Jewish leaders and publicly toned down his rhetoric on Israel. Cuomo was interviewed by the synagogue’s rabbi, Marc Schneier.
In a meeting with business executives last week, Mamdani told some Jewish attendees that he would “discourage” the use of the “globalize the Intifada” slogan, after initially dodging calls from Democratic colleagues and Jewish organizations to condemn it as inciting violence against Jews. In a TV interview on Thursday, Mamdani said he clarified his position — after hearing from Jewish leaders who experienced the bus bombings during the Second Intifada in the early 2000s — because “that distance between what some intend and what others hear is a bridge that is too far.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont who Mamdani considers a mentor, reportedly told Mamdani to “more carefully address what he’s said about Israel” and to better communicate that his criticism is not antisemitic.
Cuomo blasted Mamdani’s clarification, accusing him of “fueling antisemitism.”
“‘Discourage’ people, that’s a wink and a nod,” Cuomo said. “No, you should condemn people saying it. That’s hateful speech.”
The Mamdani campaign pointed to Mamdani’s clarification when contacted for comment.
Cuomo’s general election pitch
Cuomo also argued that he is best suited to beat Mamdani because Adams and the GOP nominee, Curtis Sliwa, don’t appeal to Democrats the way he does.
Recent polls show Cuomo trailing Mamdani in a multi-candidate race. One poll indicated that Cuomo would defeat the Democratic nominee in a head-to-head matchup. However, both Adams and Sliwa have rejected calls to drop out.
Cuomo offered to drop out of the race if an independent poll in September shows him trailing another challenger to Mamdani. But he argued that his continued candidacy serves as a vital firewall against what he called an “existential threat” to the city.
“If I were to drop dead from a heart attack, God forbid,” Cuomo said, “You would see Mamdani go sky high because all the Democrats who voted for me — 400,000 Democrats — would all go immediately to Mamdani, and he would be unbeatable.”
