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MANHATTAN, N.Y. – New Yorkers who spoke to Fox News Digital at the “No Kings” rally in Times Square on Saturday agreed they want mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani to protect New York City from President Donald Trump.
Millions of Americans gathered in cities across the country on Saturday to protest Trump’s sweeping, second-term agenda. While marching through Times Square with almost two weeks until Election Day, New York City voters explained why they are voting for Mamdani for mayor.
“He represents everything they’re not,” Edgar, a New York City voter who lives in Rockaway Beach, Queens, told Fox News Digital.
Edgar explained that democracy is “under attack,” and New York City needs a leader, like Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., to similarly fight back against the Trump administration.
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Mamdani himself has applauded Newsom’s leadership rejecting Trump’s second-term through judicial action, particularly when Trump sent the National Guard to Los Angeles during protests rejecting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deportations.
Trump has since sent the National Guard to major cities, including Washington, D.C., Chicago, Portland, Oregon, and Memphis, Tennessee, to combat crime.
He has also threatened to cut federal funding to New York City if Mamdani is elected mayor.
“I don’t think he’s afraid of Trump in the least,” Gail Kelly, a lawyer who lives in Breezy Point, Queens, who said she is voting for Mamdani, told Fox News Digital in Times Square.
Kelly said she is “tired” of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who lost the Democratic primary to Mamdani in June and is now running as an independent candidate, said she is “not that thrilled with Curtis Sliwa,” the Republican nominee.
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Brad, another Mamdani voter who lives in Gowanus, Brooklyn, and attended Saturday’s “No Kings” rally, said Trump and Cuomo are “fascists.”
“Cuomo is a fascist as well,” Brad said. “He is also a sexual abuser. Mamdani, honestly, I don’t know if he’s got good ideas. I don’t think a lot of ideas are gonna work, but he’s got optimism, he cares about the people in the city, he cares about people’s lives. That’s good enough.”
Cuomo resigned as New York governor in 2021 following multiple sexual harassment allegations that he has denied. Rich Azzopardi, a Cuomo campaign spokesperson, fired back at Brad’s charge when reached for comment.
“Andrew Cuomo passed a $15 minimum wage, paid family leave, made marriage equality the law of the land, made college tuition free for nearly 80 percent of CUNY students and protected a women’s right to choose by codifying Row vs. Wade into state law. Whomever said that clearly doesn’t know what any of that word salad means. Send me their address, I’ll be happy to send them a dictionary on me,” Azzopardi said.
Annelice Morales, a Mamdani voter who lives on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, said Mamdani’s transparency is refreshing.
“I just think people, like Cuomo, have been in power for a really long time, and they abuse power,” Morales told Fox News Digital while marching in the “No Kings” rally.
Morales said she “100%” hopes Mamdani will fight back against Trump.
“He has a message to improve lives, the material needs of the New Yorkers,” Lenny, a Lower East Side resident who is voting for Mamdani in November, said on Saturday.
When asked if he wants Mamdani to fight back against Trump, Lenny said, “Just uphold the law. It’s that simple.”
Mamdani has a 21-point lead among New York City registered voters: 49% back Mamdani, while 28% go for Cuomo and 13% favor Sliwa, according to the latest Fox News poll.
Voters will elect a new mayor of New York City on Nov. 4 as Mayor Eric Adams suspended his re-election campaign last month.
While those who spoke to Fox News Digital at Saturday’s “No Kings” rally in Manhattan said they were voting for Mamdani in the upcoming election, the democratic socialist candidate did not advertise that he was attending.
Mamdani’s campaign did not respond to inquiries about whether he was attending any “No Kings” rallies.
Meanwhile, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who has endorsed and campaigned for Mamdani, headlined a “No Kings” rally in Washington, D.C., on Saturday.
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment but did not immediately hear back.
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