Hochul, once Cuomo's second in command, identifies 'areas of alignment' with socialist Mamdani

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul - once lieutenant governor under Andrew Cuomo - said Sunday she has identified "areas of alignment" with democratic socialist New York City mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani. 

"Fox News Sunday" host Shannon Bream asked Hochul if she supported Mamdani, who is now running against Cuomo and others, after noting how the candidate praised her for hosting Texas Democratic lawmakers who fled the state to deter a GOP redistricting plan. 

"We still have many differences. I don't know how you whitewash that away," Hochul said. "He can agree with me, and many people agree with, and I think it's not just Democrats who say New Yorkers stand up for our rights. We do that. It's what we're hardwired to do. We're fighters. I'm a mom from Buffalo. I guess they're not used to taking on a mom from Buffalo, perhaps." 

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"There's many areas of disagreement, but also there's areas of alignment, including affordability," the governor added of Mamdani. "You know, his election touched a nerve. And people said, you know what, we're just not getting ahead. And the Trump policies that were promised to lift people up, reduce costs, not touch Medicaid, make sure that tariffs create jobs, none of that happened. So there is this sense of we need some change now." 

As governor, Hochul said she's worked with two different mayors of New York City already, and she'll continue to "work with whomever the voters want me to, and I'll make it work."

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"I will make it work out because I'm not going to go to war with the 8 million residents of New York that I also represent, so my job is to calm things down," Hochul said. "Let's see what the election results are, but people have to recognize that candidate for mayor has also touched a nerve and we need to be responsive to that. So I'm aligned with him that we need to start finding ways to make life more affordable for New Yorkers."

Hochul assumed the role of governor after Cuomo stepped down amid multiple controversies and she was later elected to a full term. 

After a June Democratic mayoral primary loss to Mamdani, Cuomo joined incumbent New York City Mayor Eric Adams as another independent candidate running in the general election. 

Adams and Cuomo have traded barbs about which of them should drop out before November to better the chances of a Mamdani defeat.