As Donald Trump proved during the presidential campaign, being charged with a crime can often result in a huge money haul. A source familiar with Letitia James' political operation tells CNN that the New York attorney general brought in $567,000 in the 24 hours since she was indicted yesterday for alleged bank fraud. Her best fundraising day of her decades-long career. Actually, tonight, the polling frontrunner to be the next mayor of New York City's Zohran Mamdani is fiercely coming to James' defense. Standing outside the same courthouse where she famously sued Trump for business fraud, he went on the attack against President Trump, a role that he believes is critical to being the next leader of New York City.
And joining me now is the Democratic New York City mayoral candidate, Zohran Mamdani. And thank you so much for being here. Obviously, following the news of the indictment of the attorney general here, Letitia James, last night, I know you said you actually got a chance to speak with her after she was indicted. What did she have to say to you?
She told me, don't worry about me. And I think that's just indicative of what she means to so many New Yorkers. She's somebody who has put the city, the state, the people of it first. And frankly, that's why Donald Trump is persecuting her. It's because of the fact that she looks at everyone in this state, everyone in this country, as being held to the same standards of the law. And she held Donald Trump to that same law, and he couldn't take the audacity that he would have that applied to him. And so what we're seeing is the weaponization of justice. And it's one that's looking to make an example of the attorney general, but it's one where we will have her back through every step of the way.
Well, and Trump has always pointed to what she said on the campaign trail, that she would go after Trump, that he would not be above the law if she won. Obviously, she did prosecute him. He's gone after you multiple times as well. He's called you many things, including, quote, a communist lunatic, which I'm sure you're well aware of. Do you worry that he might try to come after you as well?
Look, I think we've seen, whether it be with James Comey, whether it be with Attorney General James, that this is not something that Donald Trump is going to stop at any one individual. It's a feature of his political agenda, and it is the only thing that he can quite deliver on in this moment. And so I know that when he makes these threats of naturalizing me, deporting me, arresting me, these are ones that he may intend to deliver on. And yet it is also the price of standing up to that administration that many of us are willing to pay if it means actually standing up for New Yorkers.
Do you prepare for something like that? If he does try to come after you in terms of that?
Well, I mean, you know, when I was speaking to Attorney General James, she said, I have the best legal team around me. And that gave her confidence. And I think many of us will have to take those same precautions. But what is so alarming is that in this moment when we are seeing authoritarianism, plain and simple, the weaponization of the Department of Justice, we have other candidates running for the same seat that I am. The mayor of New York City, like Andrew Cuomo, can't even bring themselves to issue a statement with the names Tish James or Donald Trump. And just this morning, while I was standing alongside people who've been on the front lines of this fight, be it Congressman Nydia Velazquez or Maya Wiley or the speaker of the City Council, Adrienne Adams, Andrew Cuomo was on TV refusing to denounce Donald Trump's persecution of Attorney General James and refusing to describe that as political, when it's clear for all of us to see.
And he put out a statement last night, obviously, on her indictment. Cuomo did not mention Letitia James by name in that statement. What did that say to you?
I think it just shows how unwilling he is to actually name what it is that we are seeing or who it's even impacting. And the only thing that I can give him the benefit of the doubt for is that he's at least showing New Yorkers a glimpse of what his capitulation will look like if he were to be the mayor of the city. It would be one that would continue the era we've seen from Mayor Adams, where there are oftentimes press conferences where he will refuse to even say the president's name or acknowledge the crisis that the president is bringing to the city.
Yeah, he argues it because he battled Trump before that, that he could do so again. Obviously, Mayor Adams is now out of this race. We've seen your polling remain pretty steady. You're about 13 points ahead of him. But he is 10 points higher than where he was previously, according to the latest Quinnipiac poll. One question about that is, is something that's been brought up on Capitol Hill multiple times this week is why the Democratic leaders there have not endorsed you. Have they told you why they haven't endorsed you yet?
The conversations that we've had have always been focused on the necessity of an affordability agenda. And I have to say that in this moment especially, I'm appreciative of the fact that we have Democrats in Washington holding the line, making sure that we protect the health care of millions of Americans across this country. And what I will see, and I'm seeing right now across the city, is that New Yorkers are desperate for a mayor who can stand up to Donald Trump. And in these next three and a half weeks, we have the opportunity to let New Yorkers know that part of the reason that Andrew Cuomo won't say his name is that Andrew Cuomo is funded by the same billionaires who gave us Donald Trump's second term.
Trump has argued that Democrats don't really have real leadership in this moment, that they're kind of lost at sea, essentially. Is that how you see it, or do you think that Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries are doing a good job in Washington?
You know, I think holding the line right now for health care for millions of Americans, that is exactly what we need. But I understand what Donald Trump is saying. If he's referring to Andrew Cuomo, because Andrew Cuomo is what used to pass for a leader in the Democratic Party, and now he refers to Democrats in the third person, he refers to them as something he doesn't belong to. And that's indicative of the fact that he's only out there for himself. That's the only constant in his own politics is his ambition.
If you were mayor today and Trump pulled the infrastructure funding, as he did for four major projects here in New York, something that Republicans have been trying to convince them to reverse, what would you do specifically to try to stop it?
