Democrats vying for NYC mayor show rare unity against Trump crackdown on universities
At least four of the candidates including Andrew Cuomo said their first overseas trip as mayor would be to Israel while Zohran Mamdani said he would not visit
Democratic mayoral candidates Andrew Cuomo (L) shakes hands with Zohran Mamdani at a TV debate on June 4. Photo by Yuki Iwamura/Pool/AFP via Getty Images
By Jacob Kornbluh June 4, 2025
There was a rare moment of consensus opposing the Trump administration’s crackdown on universities in the first televised debate in the crowded New York City Democratic mayoral primary.
The nine candidates competing in the June 24 primary criticized Trump’s recent actions against top universities over their handling of pro-Palestinian campus protests.
Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic Socialist polling on the heels of front-runner Andrew Cuomo, largely escaped scrutiny during the two-hour debate on Wednesday for his support of the boycott movement against Israel.
Cuomo, the former New York governor, has made fighting antisemitism a central theme of his campaign. Still, he agreed with the other candidates that stripping Columbia University of its accreditation and withholding funding from other universities over allegations of antisemitism was “overreach”.
“He is literally attacking the foundation of democracy, and he must be opposed at every turn,” Cuomo said.
Mamdani, the state legislator whose strident criticism of Israel has drawn fire from both Cuomo and investor Whitney Tilson, echoed that view.
“This is yet another example of the Trump administration’s gross overreach — one they’ve shown they’ll continue with any university they choose to target,” he said. “We need a mayor who will actually stand up to Donald Trump.”
Most of the mayoral hopefuls also called for the release of Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia graduate and permanent U.S. resident who is being held for deportation for his role in pro-Palestinian protests. “He shouldn’t have been detained in the first place,” Cuomo said.
Tilson, who has been outspoken against the rise of antisemitism on college campuses, was the only holdout. He said he needed more information about Khalil before taking a definitive position.
“I can’t answer the question without knowing all the facts right now,” he said. “It looks like another case of Trump administration overreach. They need to prove their case and show that he has ties to terrorism that would justify, via due process, revoking his green card and deporting him.”
Pro-Palestinian violence has intensified in recent weeks. There was an arson attack in April on the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion hours after Gov. Josh Shapiro held a seder there. A gunman killed two Israeli embassy staffers at a Jewish museum event last month in Washington D.C. On Sunday, in Boulder, Colorado, a man shouting anti-Israel slogans firebombed a Jewish vigil for hostages held by Hamas.
Jewish organizations have linked the violence to the heated rhetoric among some on the left since Hamas launched the current war with Israel in Gaza. Ahead of the debate, a number of groups urged the candidates to condemn the slogan “Globalize the Intifada” on stage.
“These words are not abstract slogans,” the statement read. “They are calls to violence that have resulted in real harm to Jewish communities across the country.” The issue was not raised by any of the candidates during the debate.
What the candidates said about Israel
As in last year’s presidential election, the Gaza war has drawn heightened attention to the race, fueled by growing concern over antisemitism.
A recent Emerson College poll found that 49 percent of Democrats said it was unimportant for the next mayor to have a pro-Israel stance. Jewish voters — historically a crucial voting bloc in the Democratic primary — have tended to lean more to the right on Israel.
Four candidates – Cuomo, Tilson, former comptroller Scott Stringer and city Council Speaker Adrienne Adams — said they would visit Israel on their first trip abroad as mayor.
Mamdani was the only candidate who said he would decline to travel to Israel. “I would stay in New York City,” he said. “My plans are to address New Yorkers across the five boroughs and focus on that.”
His answer triggered a brief exchange with Cuomo about Mamdani’s refusal to recognize Israel specifically as a “Jewish state.” Mamdani faced backlash from his hard-line anti-Israel base for saying the country has a right to exist.
“I believe Israel has the right to exist as a state with equal rights,” Mamdani said during the debate. “I believe every state should be a state of equal rights.”
