'You are anti-semitic, not a representative of Muslim community': Andrew Cuomo slams Zohran Mamdani as NYC mayoral debate peaks

As the debates heated up for the November election, Cuomo, who is the former United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, attacked Mamdani calling him "anti-semitic".

Cuomo claimed the Jewish people were against Mamdani besides saying the latter was not a "representative of the Muslim community".

Mounting his attack on his opponent, Mamdani said, "I don’t think, in any way, the assemblyman is representative of the Muslim community, which is a vital community in New York City.”

"Many of his positions don’t even follow the Muslim faith," Cuomo said, training his guns at Mamdani, who is aiming to become the first Muslim mayor of the largest US city in terms of population.

Mamdani sharply countered Cuomo highlighting the latter couldn't name a single mosque he had visited during the last debate.

Mamdani said, "It took Andrew Cuomo being beaten by a Muslim candidate in the Democratic Primary for him to set foot in a mosque. He had more than 10 years and he couldn't name a single mosque at the last debate we had that he visited."

"What Muslims want in this city is what every community wants and deserves. They want equality, and they want respect. And it took me to get you to even see those Muslims as part of the city, and that, frankly, is something that is shameful and is why so many New Yorkers have lost faith in this politics," he added.

Mamdani, who is looking to become the first Muslim, Indian-origin New York Mayor, is the son of Indian-American filmmaker Mira Nair.

A self-declared activist, the 33-year-old is backed by the Democratic Socialists of America Party.

A member of the New York state assembly, Mamdani, who was largely unknown to the NYC residents until he announced his candidature, secured 43.5% votes as opposed to Cuomo's 36.4% to win the mayoral primary in July this year.

Married to Syrian-American artist Rama Duwaji, the Democratic nominee managed to upset a heavyweight like Cuomo by a sizable margin banking on promises like affordable living cost for the residents, free bus rides, free child care, affordable housing et al at the cost of increasing corporate taxes.