MSNBC’s Jackie Alemany confronted former Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) to his face for laughing at a vicious crack about New York City mayoral candidate and Queens Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani (D-NY) “cheering” if another 9/11 attack occurred.
Cuomo, who trails Mamdani heading into Election Day, has faced criticism for an exchange with radio host Sid Rosenberg in which Cuomo said “God forbid another 9/11, can you imagine Mamdani in the seat?”, to which Rosenberg cracked “I could. He’d be cheering.”
Cuomo laughed and said “That’s another problem.”
The former governor was a guest on Saturday’s edition of MSNBC’s The Weekend, durign which Alemany pressed him on that and other instances in which he seemed to condone attacks on Mamdani based on his faith:
JACQUELINE ALEMANY, MSNBC HOST: Governor, I want to ask you about a moment that reminded me another in 2008, when Senator John McCain was at a town hall when a supporter called Barack Obama “an Arab.” She told him she couldn’t trust Obama. McCain responded immediately, took the microphone back, and said, “No, ma’am. He’s a decent family man, a citizen that I happen to have disagreements with sometimes.” He was widely praised for that moment, it was — it was a moment of moral leadership.
Last week, you were on Sid Rosenberg’s show when he said, Zohran Mamdani — when he — he talked about Zohran Mamdani and he said, “God forbid another 9/11 happens, can you imagine Mamdani in the seat? He’d be cheering.” You laughed and said it was another problem. And then, the very next day, Mayor Adams stood next to you and warmed — warned about Islamic extremism if Mamdani wins. And you stood there and you nodded along.
You’ve now had a week or so to unequivocally condemn these remarks. Will you do so right now on camera, and, and why didn’t you have your John McCain moment?
CUOMO: Well, John McCain and I have — may he rest in peace. I have total respect for — if a supporter of mine said that, I would have said exactly what John McCain said. I was on a radio show, with a radio commentator who made that comment as a joke, or laughing as he said it. But he was not my supporter, he’s a radio commentator. I don’t normally — and I don’t think normally we hold elected officials, politicians to correct a — a comment a journalist.
ATEMANY: Right. Well, so then —
CUOMO: I don’t remember them — I don’t believe the Mayor — And excuse me, I don’t believe Mayor Adams ever said that — unless I missed it, but I don’t believe Mayor Adams have ever said that Mamdani was an Islamic extremist. I don’t believe he said that. I believe he said the opposite.
ATEMANY: No, but he warned about Islam. Well, then I’ll ask you point-blank here. I mean, my — my question, in my words. Do you condemn Islamophobic comments about Zohran Mamdani, unequivocally?
CUOMO: One hundred percent. One hundred percent. I condemn Islamophobic comments, anti-Semitic comments, racist comments, bigoted comments, anti-Italian comments. Of course.
You know, New York — as New York governor for 11 years, attorney general, our diversity is our strength, but it can also be a weakness. So you have to work very, very hard to make sure you’re always keeping people united. There are always flare-ups among different races, religions, creeds, for one reason or another. After COVID, we had hostility toward the Asian community. So yes, I’ve always been there to unify people.
And I condemn — and passed the strongest hate crime law in the United States of America, by the way.
Watch above via MSNBC’s The Weekend.
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