He’s mumbling Mamdani.
Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani dodged straightforward questions Monday on pressing issues facing the Big Apple — capping off days of mealy-mouthed politician speak that insiders argued showed the charismatic candidate’s shine is wearing off.
The frontrunner in the mayoral election only had gobbledygook to offer on a range of topics during the public safety forum at Columbia Journalism School, even when simply asked if he supported school safety agents working in the city’s public schools.
“I think it is an indication of this broken status quo that we have many schools where they will have a school safety agent, but they will not have a nurse or a social worker… and I’ve been critical of that approach to our school system,” he droned to moderator Errol Louis.
The forum — hosted by the journalism school and the news outlet Vital City — came after a spate of weekend media interviews in which Mamdani gave similar non-responses.
The substance-free streak shows Mamdani is struggling to transition from the Democratic primary’s upset challenger to the responsibilities of being the top City Hall contender, political observers and consultants said.
“He is about to find out charisma and charm are not answers,” said one longtime political operative.
“Tough choices have to be made and as the young, inexperienced frontrunner – he doesn’t want to make them. It’s understandable, but not necessarily acceptable.”
Mamdani’s increasing taste for word salad showed itself Friday, when he was asked by CNN’s Abby Phillip whether he would request for the National Guard to be put on the subways in response to President Trump potentially sending federal agents to the Big Apple.
“We have a responsibility to address the struggles that New Yorkers are living through. And one thing I’ll say about Donald Trump is he often diagnoses actual despair that people are living through,” he said, notably not responding to the question.
The candidate who once unhesitatingly said billionaires shouldn’t exist also dodged Phillip’s question on whether he thought the same about trillionaires — and bizarrely tried to shift the focus.
“I think the better question is whether working people should exist, because what we’re seeing right now is amidst this incredible wealth, we have people who are keeping the city running that have to now live outside of the city, outside of the state,” he said.
The firebrand progressive’s ramblings continued Sunday during an interview on CBS2 New York’s “The Point with Marcia Kramer.”
Asked about past stances, including calling to defund the police, that he’s been increasingly shedding, Mamdani replied: “Yes, those are out of step with the campaign that we are running and it’s been clear throughout.”
He also decided to point the finger at independent mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo.
“It’s chiefly Andrew Cuomo – who would prefer to debate a mythical version of myself than the person who I actually am. They would prefer to focus on tweets from 2020 as opposed to the platform in 2025,” he told Kramer.
Mamdani also failed to answer a direct question in the interview about what he would cut from his $10 billion freebie-filled agenda.
“I think this is why it’s so critical to increase revenue on the most profitable corporations in New York City by having the same top tax rate as New Jersey,” he said – even as Gov. Kathy Hochul has publicly poured cold water on tax increases coming from Albany.
Ken Frydman, a Democratic political operative, said Mamdani has had three months since becoming the Democratic nominee to come up with concrete plans for proposals — such as his $1 billion Department of Community Safety, which he envisions taking over mental health calls from the NYPD.
“But Mamdani has no plans for making any of his socialist policy initiatives a reality,” Frydman said. “They’re sweet nothings to the yearning, young masses.”
Mamdani during Monday’s public safety forum also failed to directly answer Louis’ question about how protesters blocking traffic or bridges should be dealt with.
He opted instead to criticize the NYPD’s Strategic Response Group – which he has called to disband if elected.
“I think we have a proud history of exercising the First Amendment in the city, and it’s one that should be protected. I think much of this conversation around protest has also been a question of which police would respond to that protest,” he said.
Nicole Gelinas, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute who attended the forum, was troubled by Mamdani’s answers.
“If you tolerate civil disobedience, you’re going to have chaos in the city,” Gelinas said.
Another Dem operative said Mamdani — who electrified voters with his lofty promises — is “coming back down to earth.”
“A mayor cannot run the city on rhetoric,” the operative said.
“Looks like he’s ready to become the next mayor– he is already dodging questions and has developed an allergy to furnishing detailed plans just like Mayor [Eric] Adams.”
In a phone interview with The Post, Cuomo shot back at the socialist pol, slamming him as a hypocrite.
Mamdani’s online footprint contains multiple examples of anti-police rhetoric, from calling the NYPD “racist, anti-queer & a major threat to public safety” to explicitly endorsing the “defund the police movement” or saying that New York’s Finest shouldn’t respond to domestic violence calls.
“He is a mythical creation – just a series of tweets and TikToks. He doesn’t exist except on social media,” the former governor said.
“If I couldn’t believe what you said before, why would I believe what you say now?” Cuomo questioned, adding that Mamdani’s rhetoric on policing issues has been “ugly and bizarre.
Mamdani’s spokeswoman Dora Pekec focused on Cuomo, arguing the former governor spent his entire primary campaign “in hiding” — and continued to do so by skipping the public safety forum.
“Meanwhile, Zohran has always and will continue to sit down with anyone to explain his vision for a more vibrant New York City where everyone can feel safe and afford to live,” she said.
