You’ve got to be Kimmel-in me.
Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani pulled out of an ABC town hall and blamed it on the network’s decision to suspend comedian Jimmy Kimmel from his late night talk show.
“I am withdrawing not as an indictment of the local affiliate or the hardworking journalists there, but rather in response to the corporate leaders who have put their bottom line ahead of their responsibility and upholding the freedom of the press,” Mamdani said at a news conference on Monday.
“Jimmy Kimmel Live!” was pulled from ABC “indefinitely” last week after a monologue in the wake of political pundit Charlie Kirk’s murder where he claimed the “MAGA gang” was doing everything they could to portray the alleged assassin as “anything other than one of them.”
Mamdani’s announcement comes as the socialist candidate and frontrunner to become the city’s next mayor is facing growing heat for avoiding public debates with his opponents. Come critics had already viewed the town hall format as a friendlier and more favorable alternative for Mamdani than a traditional candidate debate.
Mamdani is participating in two official general election debates — hosted by WNBC and NY1 in October — but he’s poured cold water on doing debates in all five boroughs by independent candidate, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Campaign spokesperson Dora Pekic said Mamdani plans to reschedule the town hall on another station, with the ABC decision simply a “a political statement.”
Despite his current political statement, Mamdani had pushed as a New York State Assembly member to cancel a Kirk speaking engagement in New York City, labeling him as a “far-right” extremist in 2023.
Here’s the latest on Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension after Charlie Kirk comments
“Providing a platform for the kind of transphobic, bigoted views held by invited speakers Candace Owens, Charlie Kirk and others goes directly against the diversity and inclusivity that we hold dear as New Yorkers and is an insult to every member of our community,” a joint letter signed by progressive politicians, including Mamdani, said at the time.
Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzorpardi said he believed the decision to suspend Kimmel was a mistake, but he slammed Mamdani for running from the public.
“Since the primary, Mamdani has been running from reporters and refusing to answer direct questions on his past campaign pledge to decriminalize prostitution, his refusal to apologize for calling the NYPD racist and his vow to seize the means of production — i.e. abolish private property — among other deeply held beliefs that he’s trying to keep a lid on before lection day,” he stated.
“He can’t word salad his way out of this one.”
Also appearing on the Nov. 4 election ballots are Republican Curtis Sliwa and incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, who is also running as an independent after skipping the June Democratic Party primary.
Mamdani won the June ranked-choice primary over a slew of candidates, including Cuomo.
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