Cuomo campaign walks back 'criminals' AI ad against Mamdani — but it's going viral on social media



A political advertisement satirically portraying criminals who support the policies of Democratic socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani was pulled by the Cuomo campaign.

The ad was posted by the campaign on Wednesday evening just as the last mayoral debate was ending, but then it was quickly taken down, according to the New York Times.

'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!'

Rich Azzopardi, a spokesperson for the Cuomo campaign, told the Times that it was posted "in error" and was not "done yet."

Copies of the two-minute video generated by artificial intelligence have since gone viral on social media. One post with the video garnered more than 2.5 million views.

The video shows criminals happily endorsing Mamdani and expressing support for his policies that go easy on criminals. They include a domestic abuser, a pimp, a drug dealer, and a drunk driver.

Common Cause New York described the ad as "offensive and a shocking attempt at fear-mongering." The group added that it might be in violation of state election law for failing to identify itself as being generated by AI.

"With plans to decriminalize all drugs, Mamdani will be a job creator for drug dealers!" says one character in the ad.

"Instead of helping us homeless get off the streets and into the mental health facilities we need, he wants to give us safe injection sites to do crack and let us sleep in subway cars!" says a character resembling a homeless man.

"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!" says a heavyset male character in a wifebeater undershirt.

"Who cares if legalizing prostitution statistically leads to an increase for sex trafficking of women and young girls by 70%?" a black pimp character says.

"You can't have safety without equality!" says a white woman who drunkenly stumbles out of her car after a crash.

"I'm a criminal for Zohran Mamdani!" they proclaim.

RELATED: Cuomo crushes Mamdani on his inexperience in final mayoral debate: 'You’ve never accomplished anything!'

The ad was widely praised by some on social media, especially from those on the right.

"Probably the most honest political ad of the season," one response reads.

"Truth in advertising. I love this ad. I could watch it on a loop," another user said.

"Hahahahaha. This is by far the only good thing to come from @andrewcuomo ever," another account replied.

On the other hand, others called it "racist and hateful."

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Don Lemon under fire for allegedly tipping Jussie Smollett off and not mentioning it on air — and critics are drawing comparisons with Chris Cuomo



CNN has become the subject of controversy again this week after one of its anchors, Don Lemon, continued to provide coverage of the ongoing Jussie Smollett trial without mentioning his own involvement.

What are the details?

During his testimony in front of court Monday, Smollett testified that he had correspondence with Lemon during the early parts of the Chicago Police Department's investigation into a supposed racist and homophobic hate crime committed against him, Fox News reported.

The disgraced former "Empire" actor claimed he received a text from Lemon tipping him off that the Chicago police didn't trust his account of the events that night, in which Smollett claimed that two Trump supporters assaulted him.

That information was reportedly key in his decision to refuse to hand over his cell phone to investigators at the time, the New York Post added.

Several media outlets reported on the revelation as notable in the trial. Yet during CNN's Monday night coverage of the trial, neither Lemon nor network reporter Omar Jimenez said so much as a single word about it.

At 10-to-midnight, @DonLemon and @OmarJimenez finally discuss the Jussie Smollett trial. But neither "journalist" mentioned how Smollett testified under oath that Lemon tipped him off to police skepticism of his hoax claims. The whole segment lasted 5 minutes and 7 seconds.pic.twitter.com/fNpgiY9o3J
— Nicholas Fondacaro (@Nicholas Fondacaro) 1638853623

Lemon, who is also gay, previously acknowledged that he texted Smollett "every day" following the alleged attack to check in on the former actor and see how he was doing. But he never mentioned that those personal messages involved sharing important information about the case.

Smollett is accused of staging the attack to boost his acting career and is now facing six counts of felony disorderly conduct.

Why does it matter?

Lemon's silence about his role in the case amid his continued coverage of it immediately sparked comparisons between him and former CNN anchor Chris Cuomo, who was recently fired by the network for meddling in the sexual harassment scandal of his brother, then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

CNN had been widely criticized for allowing Cuomo to continue reporting on the network amid his brother's scandal.

According to the Post, commenters on Twitter called Lemon a "crook" for not disclosing his involvement, adding that it was time for CNN to "bid him goodbye," as well.

"Did CNN’s Don Lemon Pull a Chris Cuomo?" asked one blogger.

New York Times best-selling author Tony Shaffer tweeted, "Really, @donlemon? Did you do for @JussieSmollett what @ChrisCuomo did for his sexual assaulting brother @andrewcuomo?"

"If CNN is to be impartial they need to suspend Lemon until further review," one commenter suggested, while another said, "CNN is a joke these are activists not reporters."

Anything else?

Lemon, like disgraced anchor Chris Cuomo, is also currently battling sexual assault allegations. On Monday, Lemon's accuser, Dustin Hice, blasted CNN as "a predator protecting machine."

"They’re a network rife with predators and perverts," he told Fox News. "Lemon will have to testify under oath in the near future, but it’s good to see that there’s finally some accountability happening."

Resurfaced video from 2018 shows Andrew Cuomo creepily inviting female reporter to come to his shower to hear him sing



An unearthed video from 2018 shows New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo make a creepy suggestion to a female reporter and helps substantiate a pattern of inappropriate sexual behavior from the beleaguered Democrat.

The exchange discovered by TheBlaze comes at the end of a debate between Cuomo and his Republican gubernatorial challenger Marc Molinaro.

The contentious debate was winding down when WCBS-TV political correspondent Marcia Kramer asked the candidates to hum a few bars of a song that personalized the candidates or their campaigns. Cuomo quickly tossed out a rap song about New York City by Jay-Z and Alicia Keys.

"Empire State of Mind, I'm not singing it," Cuomo refused.

"Oh c'mon!" said Kramer. "You can do it!"

"No, no," responded Cuomo.

"Oh, you're a coward!" she teased.

"In the shower I can do it!" he added, smiling.

Kramer moved on to Molinaro who also refused to sing the song he cited.

"Can't I get you to sing just a few bars of Empire State of Mind?" she said back to Cuomo.

"No! That's a campaign killer!" he joked.

"Alright, fine, we're gonna go to the end of the debate," she continued.

"Unless you come to the shower!" Cuomo added.

Although Molinaro appeared unfazed by the joke at the time, he later tweeted that the comment was "awkward & inappropriate."

Cuomo is fighting numerous accusations from women claiming a range of sexual harassment incidents, including unwanted touching, groping, and inappropriate comments. He is also facing public outrage from a controversial order he gave to house coronavirus-positive patients in nursing homes where thousands of elderly patients later died. Several prominent politicians have called for his resignation, including many from his own party.

Molinaro's running mate at the time, Julie Killian, also registered her complaint against Cuomo on Twitter.

"Really @andrewcuomo? You've hid in your mansion while countless women have spoken out against Albany's rampant culture of sexual abuse; and now you're inviting them to your shower," Killian tweeted.

Others criticized, him including Libertarian gubernatorial candidate Larry Sharpe.

"How can a person (@NYGovCuomo) claim he supports women's rightsand [sic] then invite the debate moderator into the shower? It's hypocrisy at its finest," he tweeted.

Here's the video of the bizarre Cuomo comment:

New York Gubernatorial Debateyoutu.be