Mayor Mamdani bashed Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman in a video released Thursday in support of Gov. Hochul’s re-election campaign as he ramps up his vocal support of Hochul in the last stretch of the race.
The video was the first substantial move the mayor — who boosted his own profile during last year’s mayoral campaign with playful, grabby short-form social media content — has made for Hochul’s re-election bid.
In the clip, Mamdani, holding an apple in his hand as a prop, slammed Blakeman for his support in cutting Medicaid and support for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and he praised Hochul for working with the city to address a multibillion-dollar budget gap and her work towards universal childcare.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Bruce Blakeman. (New York Daily News; AP)
“That’s why I’m voting for Gov. Hochul. Cause she’s the real deal for New Yorkers,” Mamdani says in the video, tossing the globular fruit, now half-eaten, behind him. “And Bruce Blakeman? He’s a bad apple.”
The mayor did not make mention of Blakeman’s association with President Trump — a frequent line of attack for Hochul.
With the election day just 19 days away, polls show Hochul with a strong lead against her Republican challenger. However, turnout among Democrats could present a hurdle, as the city’s competitive races were largely decided in the June primary. To that end, a push from Mamdani, who spurred record voter turnout among younger New Yorkers, could be helpful to the governor.
Mamdani, asked about the video at a press conference on Thursday, said he was “excited” to make it: “And I’m looking forward to being out there with her on the trail in the weeks to come,” he added.
Blakeman accused Hochul and Mamdani of pushing “high taxes and high utility bills” in a statement responding to the ad.
“Hochul and Mamdani can’t be trusted,” he said. “I support universal childcare for working parents, but why would any common sense leader pay for childcare for someone who is not working?”
While the governor and mayor have numerous ideological differences, they’ve forged a fairly strong partnership in his first ten months in office. She’s committed $1.7 billion in new funding over several years to establish free 2-K in the five boroughs and pushed through a tax on second homes that’s expected to reap the city hundreds of millions every year.
“Gov. Kathy Hochul actually fights for working families in New York,” Mamdani says in the video. “When Bruce was busy — or actually, Bruce wasn’t that busy — Gov. Hochul was helping us close a $12 billion budget deficit in New York City.”