Cuomo Campaign Blames ‘Junior Staffer’ for AI Video Depicting ‘Criminals For Zohran Mamdani’ After Racism Accusations
Andrew Cuomo’s mayoral campaign is scrambling to explain a short-lived social media post that ignited accusations of racism. The campaign said an artificial intelligence-generated video — showing “criminals for Zohran Mamdani” — was uploaded by mistake. “The video was a draft proposal that was neither finished nor approved, did not go through the normal legal process, and was inadvertently posted by a junior staffer — which is why it was taken down five minutes later,” said campaign spokesperson Rich Azzopardi.
The AI clip, briefly visible on Cuomo’s X account Wednesday evening before being deleted, portrayed Mamdani alongside an assortment of caricatured offenders, including a pimp, a drunk driver, a shoplifter, and a domestic abuser. These crudely rendered figures, identified as “criminals for Mamdani,” mockingly praised the Democratic nominee’s policies. One of them sneers, “When a woman’s being domestically abused she finally won’t have to deal with some pesky cop to arrest the abuser, but now a social worker to help, you know, kumbaya the situation,” as a frightened woman hides behind him.
Another figure in the video — a black man whose facial features morph as the animation glitches — is shown stealing from a convenience store. Grinning, he declares, “Decriminalizing misdemeanors, like shoplifting,” before donning a keffiyeh and mask to commit the robbery.
Although the Cuomo team quickly removed the video, copies circulated widely online. Many denounced it as offensive, including Bill de Blasio, who leapt to Mamdani’s defense. “This is disqualifying. No candidate who approves a racist, disgusting ad like this can be allowed to govern,” the former mayor wrote on X.
Ironically, Cuomo had recently targeted de Blasio in another AI-driven parody, portraying him as Dr. Evil and Mamdani as his “mini me” in a mock Austin Powers spoof — a move that already raised eyebrows about the campaign’s approach to digital messaging.
Azzopardi insisted the campaign never intended to release the latest clip and emphasized that it wasn’t an official ad. The incident, he said, was a regrettable mishap during Cuomo’s effort to modernize his outreach strategy after suffering a crushing defeat to Mamdani in June’s Democratic primary.
During last week’s debate, Cuomo acknowledged that his younger rival had outperformed him on social media. “I think the assemblyman did do a better job on TikTok and social media than I did during the campaign. And that has changed now,” Cuomo, 67, said.
The controversial AI venture marks a dramatic shift from the ex-governor’s old-fashioned political branding. Back in 2020, Cuomo distributed a self-designed State of the State poster featuring a Leonard Cohen quote about leadership and perseverance: “Past the reefs of greed, through the squalls of hate, sail on, sail on.”
{Matzav.com}
