Ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s mayoral campaign hit back at accusations of racism over an AI-generated video it briefly released before deleting — saying the clip depicting “criminals for Zohran Mamdani” was mistakenly posted online by a “junior staffer.”
The video, which was taken down a few minutes after it went live on the Cuomo’s X account Wednesday evening, depicted a sloppy AI version of Mamdani, as well as a crew of motley characters — including a pimp, drunk driver, shoplifter and domestic abuser — sardonically cheering on the Democratic nominee.
“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,” one of the slightly-off looking “criminals for Mamdani” says as a woman cowers behind him.
The Cuomo campaign’s video showed a character of a black man wearing a face mask and keffiyeh robbing a convenience store. Cuomo for NYCA black man, whose face appears to change over the course of the two-minute clip, is seen shoplifting from a convenience store.
“Decriminalizing misdemeanors, like shoplifting,” he says with a smile, before putting on a keffiyeh, a traditional Middle Eastern scarf, as well as a face mask, to rob the store.
The video, which has been reposted by other accounts since the campaign took it down, drew condemnation from many viewers, including Cuomo detractor and Mamdani fan Bill de Blasio.
“This is disqualifying. No candidate who approves a racist, disgusting ad like this can be allowed to govern,” the former mayor wrote on X.
De Blasio himself was the subject of a similarly janky artificial intelligence-fueled video posted by Cuomo last week depicting him as Dr. Evil from the Austin Powers films and Mamdani as his “mini me.”
The video meant to parody Mamdani’s lefty criminal justice policies like decriminalizing prostitution and supporting lax bail laws. It ends with the AI-generated Mamdani releasing criminals from prison. Cuomo for NYC
The Mamdani character could be seen eating with his hands in the clip. Cuomo for NYCCuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi denied the video was an ad in a statement swiping back at the attacks.
“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,” he said.
Cuomo’s campaign has been shifting toward boosting its social media presence since the former governor was walloped by Mamdani in the June Democratic primary.
Asked what he learned from it during last week’s general mayoral election debate, Cuomo admitted he needed to be more hip and find new ways to connect with voters, like the 34-year-old Queens assemblymember had.
“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.
Cuomo’s campaign said the video was posted accidentally by a “junior staffer.” Matthew McDermottCuomo’s use of AI is a far cry from the William Jennings Bryan-esque poster of himself that he designed for his 2020 state of the state address and handed out.
The poster includes a Leonard Cohen quote about the “ship of state”.
“Past the reefs of greed, through the squalls of hate, sail on, sail on,” it read.
Assemblyman Alex Bores (D-Manhattan) said that while the “criminals for Zohran Mamdani” video may sit in a legal grey area that allows for parody and satire, Cuomo still shouldn’t be toeing the line.
Bores was one of the sponsors on a recently enacted law requiring a disclaimer on some AI-generated political content meant to prevent deepfakes.
“The disclosures on these ads seem to violate New York election law. While mislabeling is a minor infraction, campaigns warning about lawlessness should not participate in it,” he said.
