Zohran Mamdani, whose anti-Israel, anti-American upbringing influenced his Democratic socialist campaign promises, heads down the final stretch of his campaign in the lead with 46% of the vote, according to Quinnipiac University. Independent Andrew Cuomo is polling second at 33% and Republican Curtis Sliwa is third at 15%.
He maintains his willingness to speak at any time to lower the cost of living is what sets him apart.
Ahead of this evening's debate, Mamdani's interview with Fox News' Martha MacCallum is causing a stir.
He condemned the Israel-Hamas ceasefire and refused to call for the terrorists to lay down their arms and give up leadership of Gaza, saying the agreement will not end "Israel's assault on the Palestinian people or the theft and occupation of the Palestinian lands."
The peace deal has seen a shaky few days. Hamas has been unable to return the bodies of the slain hostages as promised, and fighters have reasserted control in Gaza by deploying hundreds of security forces in the streets and executing several people they accused of collaborating with Israel.
"I don't really have opinions about the future of Hamas and Israel beyond the question of justice and safety and the fact that anything has to abide by international law," Mamdani (left) told MacCallum Wednesday. "That applies to Hamas, that applies to the Israeli military, applies to anyone you could ask me about."
The Fox News anchor then pressed him on his pledge to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he comes to The Big Apple.
"I've said that I believe that we should uphold arrest warrants by the International Criminal Court (ICC) and that you should do so only in abiding with all of the laws in front of us," the Democratic socialist stated. "I can tell you that I'm going to exhaust every legal option in front of me."
The ICC deals mostly in war crimes. It exists only through willing participation of sovereign nations, and MacCallum pointed out that neither the United States nor Israel is among those that recognize its authority.
