Mamdani on Defense After Manhattan Shooting

This week's Manhattan shooting that took the life of a New York City police officer has Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani on the defensive, reports Politico. Back in 2020, when the "defund the police" movement was in full swing, Mamdani tweeted his support. "There is no negotiating with an institution this wicked & corrupt," he wrote in one such missive about the NYPD. "Defund it. Dismantle it. End the cycle of violence." Mamdani was on vacation in Uganda when the shooting took place, and by the time he got back on Wednesday, critics including Andrew Cuomo—the former governor who is running for mayor as an independent—were calling attention to the old tweets.

• "I am not running to defund the police," Mamdani told reporters Wednesday, per the New York Times. "Over the course of this race, I've been very clear about my view of public safety and the critical role that the police have in creating that public safety."
• Mamdani said his 2020 comments were made out of frustration in the wake of the George Floyd killing, and he called them "out of step" with his current view of policing.
• He criticized Cuomo for trying to score "cynical political points," though a spokesperson for Cuomo defended rehashing the old posts. "I liken that to every time there is a mass shooting, Republicans say it's not the time to talk gun safety," said the spokesman. "This is very much the time to talk about what our candidates for mayor said then versus now."