The killing of MAGA conservative Charlie Kirk on Wednesday spotlighted the nation’s polarized and sometimes bloodthirsty political climate, prompting calls for bringing down the temperature. But in NYC, mayoral candidates are not talking about switching up their respective strategies as they barrel toward a November showdown.
The killing comes amid a deeply contentious mayoral election marked by intense rhetoric. The race is the first competitive mayoral general election in years, seen by many as an existential moment for New York, and has come with a fair amount of mudslinging.
Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani has repeatedly spoken out about Islamophobic messages and even threats on his life that he’s received during the campaign. His opponents, including ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, have said the democratic socialist would be “dangerous” for the city if elected.
Both Cuomo and Mayor Adams have attacked Mamdani for his anti-Israel stance, while Mamdani’s stance on Palestine have been scored by some as antisemitic and hateful.
Mayor Adams called Cuomo a “snake and a liar,” and the two have duked it out over Twitter.
Mamdani has launched his own attacks, mainly at Cuomo, not only talking about the sexual misconduct scandal that led to his 2021 resignation, but about his overlap in donors with President Trump and pointing to loose, degrees-of-separation ties to Jeffrey Epstein. Trump, for his part, has called Mamdani “my little communist.”
Speaking in Brooklyn on Friday, Cuomo, who’s running as an independent, called Kirk’s killing “horrendous” and “disturbing” and an outgrowth of political speech that has become “anti-American” and antithetical to “everything we say about democracy” and the First Amendment.
Still, the former governor said he does not plan to tone down his rhetoric about Mamdani while defending his claim that the Democratic nominee is “dangerous” to New York City.
“I’ve always been careful about what I say about Mr. Trump, what I say about opponents, I’ve always been careful,” he told the Daily News. “Dangerously inexperienced is what I believe, I believe that [Mamdani] is dangerous because he is inexperienced, and he doesn’t understand public safety.”
Asked for comment, Mamdani’s campaign directed The News to a Thursday interview he did with the New York Times. Trump and other right-wing figures have blamed the left for political violence in the U.S. in the wake of the shooting, although the suspect’s political affiliations were unclear as of Friday evening.
“This is quite a terrifying time in our country,” the frontrunner told The Times, though the democratic socialist said he doesn’t plan on changing how he campaigns.
Mamdani said he has received new death threats since the shooting and expressed fear for those close to him, according to the outlet.
Mayor Adams’ campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
E. O’Brien Murray, a political strategist, said that he “hopes” New Yorkers are able to see the difference between politics and calls to arms.
“Words are words,” he said. “Actions are the ones that we have to be fearful of, and we have to be aware of friends, family, associates, people that are having trouble during these times, across the board for any reasons, to make sure that they know it’s not okay to escalate those things. Say what you want, but that doesn’t give you a right to do what you want.”
Many leaders including Gov. Hochul issued a plea to turn down “reckless rhetoric” on Friday.
“Political violence has no place in America — zero,” Hochul said at a press conference in upstate New York. “A democracy thrives on debate, not bloodshed. And as Governor, I know that words matter. It’s not enough for leaders to condemn the violence after the fact.”
Darren McGee/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams. (Darren McGee/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul)
The governor said she plans to bring leaders from across the political spectrum next week for a security briefing and conversation on how to take politics down a notch in the state.
Former Republican Councilmember Joe Borelli also spoke about taking the temperature down: In a CNN appearance Wednesday, the Staten Islander said he disagrees with most of Mamdani’s political persuasions but that the two are still friendly.
“The worst thing I want to happen to Zohran Mamdani is I want him to lose the race,” Borelli said. “I want him to lose. I don’t want anything bad to happen to him.”
Jim Walden, a former mayoral candidate who stands stanchly against Mamdani and has called the candidate a “radical extremist” and antisemitic, also drew a distinction between words and actions.
“We have to all be able to address, authentically, our beliefs and principles, me included, without either turning into violent speech or being chilled because others use that reality of the increase of political violence to call on people to muzzle themselves,” Walden said.
