Fmr. Dem NY Gov.: Criticism of Mamdani’s Antisemitic Remarks Is Accurate, Didn’t Matter to Voters

On Wednesday’s broadcast of CNN’s “Laura Coates Live,” former New York Gov. David Paterson (D) — who endorsed fellow former New York Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the New York City mayoral race — stated that Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani’s opponents were correct in their criticism of “his antisemitic remarks,” but that ended up not working with voters and they needed to make Mamdani actually explain how his plans would work, because they aren’t actually doable.

Paterson said, “Well, when you say that people should ride the subways free, that’s easy for you to say. But he doesn’t run the MTA in the city, the governor does. If you say that there should be a minimum wage of $30 an hour, then you have to figure out where that money’s going to come from. He has never explained these things. And I think where his opponents made a big mistake is they attacked him about his antisemitic remarks, which was right. And they attacked him about how he’s offended so many people in the city, which was also right. But they didn’t call him out and make him explain, either by writing a paper or making a statement other than a 30-second moment where he would explain how he’s actually going to do these things, because he can’t do them, not because he wouldn’t try, but because the way — what he described he wants to do is impossible.”

He added that what will work in the general election is the public seeing that Mamdani’s plans won’t actually work the way he says.

Paterson also stated that Mamdani outcampaigned Cuomo.

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett