Zohran Mamdani brought a surprise guest to the final New York City mayoral debate last week — and the choice was a revealing one.
Midway through the candidates’ sparring, Mamdani pointed out a member of his entourage: Charlotte Bennett, one of the women who accused Andrew Cuomo of sexual impropriety in 2021, whose complaints ultimately led to Cuomo’s resignation as governor.
The political calculation was obvious.
Mamdani undoubtedly saw the moment as a devastating kill shot against Cuomo, reminding voters why he was forced ignominiously out of office while highlighting Mamdani’s own solidarity with women who’ve been “victimized” by powerful male harassers.
But it was also a vivid display of the ruthless hardball tactics that the seemingly cheery, wholesome Mamdani has employed to rocket himself from back-bench obscurity to Gracie Mansion’s doorstep.
Mamdani denounced Cuomo for having the audacity to “legally go after” Bennett and other accusers, giving the impression that the ex-governor has been viciously hounding the victims of his unrepentant predation.
Few recall it was actually Bennett who brought legal action against Cuomo, only to unceremoniously drop her federal lawsuit in December 2024 with her credibility in tatters.
As Mamdani told it from the debate stage, Bennett remains the grievously wronged party — merely because Cuomo used the ordinary legal process to unearth mounds of evidence disproving her allegations.
It was true sleazeball stuff on Mamdani’s part.
But it’s nothing new for him — and explains much about the political career he’s cultivated at warp speed.
In March 2021, as a newly elected member of the state Assembly, Mamdani and his cohort of Democratic Socialist legislators were among the first Democrats to coordinate a joint public statement demanding Cuomo’s impeachment for “sexual harassment.”
None of the allegations against the governor had been meaningfully investigated at that point, much less corroborated.
For Mamdani, this was immaterial.
Here was an opportunity to accomplish something his DSA caucus never could have done electorally: Get rid of their nemesis Cuomo, the “centrist” they despised.
Defeating him in a gubernatorial primary would have been nearly impossible, given his years-long grip on New York’s Democratic Party machinery.
Progressive challengers like Cynthia Nixon hadn’t made a dent in his dominance.
What better way to oust an older male Democrat than to fervently hype some “sexual harassment” claims?
In the heyday of #MeToo uproar, such tactics had proven wildly effective against legions of other liberal men.
And with Cuomo, they smelled blood.
Though Mamdani had no national profile at the time, he managed to wrangle appearances on CNN to demand justice for the “victims.”
Mamdani and his DSA cadre kept up the pressure throughout 2021 — relentlessly affirming solidarity with the women they now labeled “survivors” of Cuomo’s predatory behavior.
The coinage was creepy, but some of their accounts verged on the absurd.
One was a purported “survivor” of illicit selfie-taking, who had proudly displayed on her desk an affectionate photo of herself with Cuomo — until the accounts of Bennett & Co. made her decide the snapshot constituted sexual abuse.
Others suggested Cuomo victimized them by using such goofball terminology as “mingle mamas.”
In the ensuing years, none of these ridiculous allegations have survived basic scrutiny.
But in fairness to Mamdani, he’s not the only one who has strategically refused to examine any of the pesky details.
“I think when you have 13 women,” Curtis Sliwa told me after the first mayoral debate, “who make these allegations about sexual harassment, to then suddenly dismiss them as being politically motivated? No, no.”
However you may feel about Andrew Cuomo personally or politically (I was never the biggest fan), the putsch engineered against him couldn’t have been more quintessentially political.
He was badgered into authorizing an initial investigation by Attorney General Letitia James — now an enthusiastic Mamdani endorser — who swiftly proceeded to launch her own campaign for governor, bragging that taking Cuomo out showed she was qualified for the job.
Cuomo himself, it should be said, has been incredibly ham-fisted in addressing this issue.
He’s in an impossible position: He must project the usual Democratic sensitivity to sexual harassment, while rejecting the veracity of allegations lodged against him.
All the while, knowing that most voters (and most journalists) will never examine the details in any depth.
Mamdani has deftly exploited that vulnerability — even having the temerity to insinuate some kind of parallel between Cuomo and Jeffrey Epstein.
If he does end up sailing to victory on Tuesday, he’ll do so powered by a years-long political hit job of aggressive duplicity — which there’s every reason to think would become a recurring feature of his mayoralty.
Michael Tracey is an independent journalist. Substack: mtracey.net