Joining us right now for a conversation on the impact of artificial intelligence on jobs, the AI bubble, the New York City mayoral race, and so much more: Andrew Yang. He's the former Democratic presidential candidate, former New York City mayoral candidate, and now founder and CEO of Noble Mobile. It's a new wireless carrier. It's a very cool idea. It's aimed to encourage customers, if you can believe this, to limit their use of phones. And we're going to talk more about that again as well. But let's start with New York because we are getting ever so close to the actual election. I'm curious where you land on your candidate of choice and what you think is happening in this city right now.
I talked to folks who have access to the early voter data, Andrew, and the early vote's been good for Cuomo in terms of the demographics, the location. It's going to be tighter than a lot of people think.
I have chosen not to endorse in this race. I had people working for both campaigns and have endorsed on both sides. I also met with both candidates. I haven't met with Lander, though. You know, I know him from a while ago. I just urge people to vote their genuine conscience and desire and not hew to traditional party lines. That's the message I put out.
What's your assessment, though, given that you've actually met with both men? And by the way, we've had Cuomo on the broadcast. We had Stringer on the broadcast. We have not had Zohran Mamdani on the broadcast, though we've sought the interview many, many times. What is your assessment of him on a relative basis to Cuomo right now?
So Zohran is a very charming, very charismatic, and very intelligent guy, and you meet with him and you come away thinking, we're going to be all right in terms of having a pragmatic leader. And then there are some people who sit with him and get that vibe and then just don't believe it. Having spent time with him, I mean, I do believe he's sincere. I think his deciding to keep the police commissioner was a very, very positive signal because she has a huge amount of gravitas and credibility with the rank-and-file police officers. And that's something that a lot of people in my camp were pushing.
So, here's a question about that. So, as I live in New York City and I think Jessica Tisch has done a fabulous job in the city. And so that would be a good sign for him. What I can't figure out is my understanding of all of this is that she will take this job under him with the proviso at some level that she has to be sort of left alone to go do this in a semi-autonomous way. So I think it's very easy in a way for him to say, 'I'll put you in the job,' and for other folks to look at that and go, 'That's a good sign.' And three, five months from now, six months from now, say, 'Hey, hey, Jessica, you know, I want to actually reallocate some of the money that you're using towards, you know, reallocating certain police forces to do other things.' And she says, 'That's not how we're going to do this.' And then she walks out the door and, you know, the city got the mayor that thought they were getting Jessica Tisch and they actually don't get Jessica Tisch. What do you make of that?
If something like that were to unfold a few months from now, or a few months after he takes office if he wins, there'd be hell to pay.
But there really wouldn't be hell to pay because he would be the mayor.
Well, there'd be hell to pay in terms of the police force, which, as someone who's been in this context, is a huge deal. And Zohran, I believe, realizes he has a lot of fences to mend. He's been apologizing to groups of them, saying, 'Hey, I'm sorry about some of the things I've said in the past.' I think it's a huge win for the city, Jessica Tisch, and Zohran for him to say, 'Look, you've got it.' Because the fact is he knows this is not something that he has a strength in. And if Jessica Tisch can manage, like, you know, a vast police force, that's good for every different question.
And it goes to this sort of capitalism-socialism thing. It's such an interesting debate that's happening in a city that basically is the capital of capitalism, if you will, for the world.
Yeah, we're sitting in it. We're sitting in it. When I talk to people in the city who are voting for Zohran Mamdani, they say, 'Andrew, he's not a socialist. You don't understand. He's not a socialist, he's a democratic socialist.' And I say, have you ever seen the things that this gentleman has said, even in the past, you know, 24 months, about socialism, about the idea that he genuinely — I mean, you can go online and there are — he literally says that he would like the government to seize the means of production. I mean, the words came out of his mouth. He talks about how he wants that socialism, not democratic socialism, but socialism is, you know, what he is after. And the split screen of somebody who said those things, as I said, within 24, 36 months of today, and then effectively saying, 'I don't mean those things,' I think is why there's a lot of people in the city who don't believe what he's saying.
And you know, there's a bad habit nowadays, Andrew, is that a political candidate will say something either in the recent past or, you know, maybe right now, and then some voters be like, 'Ah, he's just kidding,' you know, and we've seen that in different contexts. I think that Zohran's been pretty clear about where he stands on being a socialist. I think that — where do you think he stands?
Which is, he says, 'I'm a socialist.' I mean, I believe him. And so, if there's a voter who looks out there like he's not — I mean, you know, like you should just ask the man himself. But if you look at the polling among Democratic primary voters, socialism isn't the smear or negative philosophy that, like, a lot of people like you and me and Becky, and I'm sure a lot of people watching this at home, regard it as, because a lot of folks have been living in what they see as capitalism in a way that hasn't worked for them. And so I don't think socialism is like a — you know, it's not hurting him with his base.
And a lot of what does the early polling data suggest? Because if you look at the prediction markets, they're saying it's 99% plus that Mamdani will win this election.
