Independent mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo received sharp criticism after his campaign inadvertently launched an AI-generated "Criminals for Zohran Mamdani" ad on social media during Wednesday night's mayoral debate, which was labeled as "racist" and "Islamophobic."

The two-minute ad, aired around 20 minutes after the start of the Oct. 22 debate, was quickly deleted by the Cuomo campaign — but drew widespread condemnation from social media users and has been reshared countless times.

The video begins with an AI-generated Mamdani walking through the streets of New York and eating rice with his bare hands. It goes on to show a number of criminals announcing their support for Mamdani, including a Black man wearing a keffiyeh committing shoplifting and an AI-generated pimp.

The ad, which ap

See Full Page