Zohran Mamdani on Trump's National Guard Threats: "You'll Have to Get Through Me" Tess Bonn October 30, 2025 at 11:25 PM 0 Zohran Mamdani on Trump's National Guard Threats: "You'll Have to Get Through Me" If you want to understand where American politics is headed next, look to New York. The city's mayoral race — between progressive State Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo — isn't just a local story. It's a referendum on how Democrats confront Trumpism, rising inequality, and fearbased politics in a postpandemic America.
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Tess Bonn October 30, 2025 at 11:25 PM
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Zohran Mamdani on Trump's National Guard Threats: "You'll Have to Get Through Me"
If you want to understand where American politics is headed next, look to New York. The city's mayoral race — between progressive State Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo — isn't just a local story. It's a referendum on how Democrats confront Trumpism, rising inequality, and fear-based politics in a post-pandemic America.
Mamdani is positioning himself as a candidate who's not afraid to confront both state and federal power head-on — and to defend the city's most vulnerable in the process. During an interview with our own Katie Couric, he didn't mince words when asked how he'd respond if he wins the election and President Donald Trump made good on threats to deploy the National Guard, as he has in Washington, D.C., and Memphis, among other cities.
"If Donald Trump were to look to make good on his threats, what I would do is follow the example we've seen elsewhere in the country where you utilize every single tool in front of you — as we saw in California, where the mayor, the attorney general, and the governor come together and file a lawsuit — and actually make clear to New Yorkers what was going on," he said.
That defiance carried throughout their wide-ranging conversation — and reached a peak when Mamdani addressed the former president directly: "If you want to pursue your promise to create the single largest deportation force in American history, or your promise to persecute and punish your political enemies, then you will have to get through me to do that here in New York City."
It's the kind of line that distills his message: that City Hall should be a "shining light" for those the federal government targets, not an "embassy for Washington, D.C."
When the topic turned to immigration, Mamdani's tone sharpened. "Coordination with ICE is akin to capitulating to Donald Trump's agenda," he said. "This is a reckless entity that cares little for the rule of law and even less for the people that it's supposed to serve."
He also took direct aim at his opponent, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. (Mamdani holds a commanding 25-point lead in the race, according to an Emerson College Polling/PIX11/The Hill survey released Thursday.)
"For Andrew Cuomo to say that my election would mean the entrance of Donald Trump into the city — it obscures the fact that electing Andrew Cuomo would mean that we'd have Donald Trump's puppet right here in City Hall, because that's who he has been. And that's what's on the ballot."
After drawing that political line in the sand, Mamdani pivoted to the issue that's become the centerpiece of his campaign: making New York affordable again amid soaring rents and widening inequality.
"For every single dollar that we spend, it has to be a dollar New Yorkers look at as a dollar well invested," he said. "It's my job to show that every single one of these dollars will transform quality of life for every New Yorker."
That vision extends to housing policy, where he argues the mayor has more power than voters may realize. "No matter how many times Governor Cuomo speaks about the things that he would not or could not do, it is quite clear from the mayor's office itself that we have the power to appoint the nine members of the Rent Guidelines Board Speaker. And it's that board that determines the rent increase for more than 2 million rent-stabilized tenants. That's why I've said I'm gonna freeze the rent for New Yorkers for four years."
While much of his campaign has focused on policy, it's also forced Mamdani (who would be New York's first Muslim mayor if elected) to confront something far more personal: a wave of Islamophobic attacks, which he says have only strengthened his resolve to lead with hope and inclusion.
"The kind of fear-mongering that has become endemic in our politics was what pushed me to actually name what it is that so many of us have come to expect. And also make clear that no matter how unsurprising this is, it should still shock our conscience, and it should still be something that we say goodbye to as we say goodbye to Andrew Cuomo and Eric Adams on November 4."
For all his fiery rhetoric, Mamdani's campaign is ultimately rooted in something quieter — a deep sense of belonging.
"My belief about who gets to call themselves a New Yorker is anyone that wants to — anyone that lives in this city, anyone that is looking to actually find a home in these five boroughs. And my job is to represent them all — not just the ones who vote for me, not just the ones who agree with me, but every single person who calls the city home."
The post Zohran Mamdani on Trump's National Guard Threats: "You'll Have to Get Through Me" appeared first on Katie Couric Media.
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Published: October 31, 2025 at 12:36AM on Source: VOXI MAG
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