Mamdani backs away from ‘out of step' defund the police posts
Mamdani is returning to a city where polling shows him as the clear favorite , and he'll try to maintain that lead through the tumult of a crowded general election in an unpredictable city. Mamdani's opponents have homed in on his relatively limited political and management experience, and the past few days have served as a test of how the democratic socialist frontrunner would respond to a crisis — and the pressure that entails.
At the height of the Defund the Police movement in 2020, Mamdani made repeated calls to slash the NYPD's budget.
'We don't need an investigation to know that the NYPD is racist, anti-queer & a major threat to public safety. What we need is to #DefundTheNYPD ,' he wrote on X that year.
'There is no negotiating with an institution this wicked & corrupt,' he wrote , referencing city budget negotiations around proposed cuts to the NYPD. 'Defund it. Dismantle it. End the cycle of violence.'
Mamdani distanced himself from the posts. When asked if he regretted the statements, he said they were made 'amidst a frustration that many New Yorkers held at the murder of George Floyd.' He also said multiple times that the posts were 'clearly out of step' with his current view of policing and his campaign platform.
On the campaign trail, Mamdani has delivered a different message, frequently saying he wants to keep the NYPD headcount the same, while slashing the police department's overtime spending. He also plans to create a Department of Community Safety that would respond to mental health crises and combat homelessness with a $1 billion budget.
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