Zohran Mamdani, Democratic candidate for New York City mayor, addressed President Donald Trump directly in his sit-down with Fox News on Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025.

Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for New York City mayor, used his first Fox News appearance to speak directly to one of his most vocal critics: President Donald Trump.

In an Oct. 15 interview on “The Story with Martha MacCallum,” the 33-year-old democratic socialist and race frontrunner made a direct-to-camera statement to the president, while slamming outgoing Mayor Eric Adams and his chief race rival, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

“I just want to speak directly to the president,” Mamdani said. “I will not be a mayor like Mayor Adams, who will call you to figure out how to stay out of jail. I won’t be a disgraced governor like Andrew Cuomo, who will call you to ask how to win this election. I can do those things on my own.”

Mamdani was referring to Adams’ 2024 federal indictment on corruption charges, which were later dropped by the Justice Department after Trump took office.

“I will, however, be a mayor who is ready to speak at any time to lower the cost of living,” Mamdani said, touching on one of his campaign’s defining platforms. “That’s the way that I’m going to lead this city.”

Mamdani’s interview came ahead of the first scheduled debate on Oct. 16, with election day less than two weeks away. The state assemblyman will face off against Cuomo, a centrist Democrat running as an independent after suffering a bruising loss to Mamdani in the June Democratic primary, and the sole Republican candidate, Curtis Sliwa.

Polls have consistently placed Mamdani ahead of Cuomo. The latest survey by Quinnipiac University, released on Oct. 10, gave Mamdani a sizeable double-digit lead, even as Cuomo saw a 10-point increase in support since its September poll.

Mamdani’s continued popularity has caught the attention of the president. In a September interview with “Fox and Friends,” Trump predicted Mamdani would win the mayoral race, and said the democratic socialist represented a "rebellion" against other contenders.

He has since threatened to withhold federal funding from the city if Mamdani is victorious.

In Mamdani’s Oct. 15 Fox News appearance, he was also asked about the Israel-Hamas war and his relationship with the New York City Police Department.

He largely sidestepped questions about the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas when pressed on the subject, which has been a leading subject of dispute within the Democratic party and a point of division in the New York City mayoral race. Mamdani has been a vocal supporter of the Palestinian cause and has referred to Israel’s military campaign in Gaza as genocide, while Cuomo has been a staunch supporter of Israel.

“I don’t really have opinions about the future of Hamas and Israel beyond the question of justice and safety and the fact that anything has to abide by international law,” Mamdani said.

Mamdani also offered a public apology to the NYPD in the interview for comments he made in 2020 in the wake of George Floyd protests that called the force “racist, anti-queer & a major threat to public safety.”

“I’ll apologize to police officers right here because this is the apology that I’ve been sharing with many rank-and-file officers,” he said. “And I apologize because of the fact that I’m looking to work with these officers, and I know that these officers, these men and women who serve in the NYPD, they put their lives on the line every single day.”

Kathryn Palmer is a politics reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach her at kapalmer@usatoday.com and on X @KathrynPlmr.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Zohran Mamdani addresses Trump directly in interview, apologizes to NYPD

Reporting by Kathryn Palmer, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect