Andrew Cuomo is afraid he'll lose, so his donors want you to fear me. His SuperPAC just sent out a mailer that artificially lengthened and darkened my beard. This is blatant Islamophobia—the kind of racism that explains why MAGA billionaires support his campaign.
on the left, a picture of mayoral candidate zohran mamdani. on the right, controversial rapper mr. cardamom
Looks kinda hot though.
Go tell it to the mountain not to rank #Cuomo bsky.app/profile/cass...
New York deserves a mayor who isn't a raging Islamophobe & a serial sex pest.
Well he comes by his racism And jingoism honestly with his love of israel
Damn, that is fucked up. At least they showing who they really are.
Sorry, tim scott said this isn't a racist country, so this can't be true. /s
America is not a racist country, it is a federation of 50 racist states, a racist federal district, and assorted racist territories
I like the second pic way more...you should grow it out like that
They did your brows dirty
What a weird thing to do
This is awful. His photoshopped picture makes you look like me. What an insult!
you can see how being called wop in his youth really informed Cuomo's strong moral sense of cultural inclusivity and equity
they’re jealous of your rizz Zohran. they are more panicked than I imagined!
HE HAS A BEARD! Like the DEBIL!!
I feel like the only natural response here is to engage in some slight Italophobia…
eyebrows too! nasty work
Im incredibly anti-maga. But how exactly is this Islamophobia if it’s about a bad photoshop of a beard?
Common stereotype that Muslims/Arabs/Middle Easterners have that kind of look which Americans not if that background is the ‘terrorist’ look. Or at least to give us that ‘foreign/we don’t belong here’ kinda look
Yeah. So racist against Arabs. I still don’t see any religion involved.
Yes, racist against Arabs. But for many (racist) Americans, Arab = Muslim. It's especially prevalent in rural areas that the word "Arab" really isn't used that much and it's just "Muslim" because that's what all Arabs are assumed to be. It's racism and Islamophobia all in one package!
Yeah somebody else explained it well
Do you honestly believe bigots care about the difference between “Muslim” and “Arab”? There’s a reason why Muslims of ALL background get the same/similar bigoted treatment that Arab non-Muslims get, or heck, Middle Easterners that aren’t Arab get anti-Arab racism too. /1
Me telling a racist that I’m actually African-American is not gonna get them to stop calling me a sand-n*gg*r and told to go back to a country I’ve never been to nor descend from. Literal Sikhs get islamophobia and anti-Arab/MidEast racism too because bigots don’t care about the difference. /2
We’re foreigners that don’t belong in western/white countries, and our religious affiliation ‘proves’ that. Fin. /3
I didn’t think about the ignorance that comes with the racism. Thanks for opening my eyes. The kinda competence you don’t get on "x"
Yeah that’s a point
Jesus jumped up Christ this is so blatant of him to do.
I'm just shocked they lightened you up a bit.
surprised they didn’t put faint outlines of planes hitting towers behind you
God they're so weird. The pic is super deep-fried to evoke Black Hawk Down or similar.
Make 'em say calf rope, Sir! [Texas idiom, my apologies]
And changed the colour of your skin. 🤬
GET HIS ASS!!!!!!!!
How dreadful. Mamdani is a kind man, standing with people - ordinary people like me.
Andy bring back the classics: “Vote Cuomo, not the homo!”
They're scared. I bet their internal polls are bad
Bro over here mad when he looks hot either way? Sheesh
Pathologically sociopathic
With peace & love…they are Republican billionaires. You do a fantastic job holding people accountable. The only way we will ever hold the people responsible for the current situation is if we accurately identify the perpetrators. Those are Republicans not maga. This started long before maga existed
@lazytato.bsky.social 🤮
Anecdotally, this is why I shave before I go to the airport. I know Americans are still scared of MENA/South Asian folks, especially Muslims. And I'm not even a Muslim. It's racism, plain and simple. If Cuomo hires racists for his Super PAC, who will he hire in his government?
It's super fucked up that this shit happens every time a colored man tries to run. They make him darker, they make him swarthier, they'll do anything except actually be honest.
fuck Andrew Cuomo, all my homies hate Andrew Cuomo
I'm in the UK, it's wild to me that a mayor saying they'll prioritise the residents of the city where they're running for election is in any way controversial If a mayor here started to talking about which countries they'd visit 1st we'd think they'd lost the plot!!
get his ass big Z
Cuomo is such a loser.
Not only is this racist, it's also crappy/incompetent Photoshop work - it looks like they just Clone Stamp'ed some extra hair on there without trying to make it look natural, they'd get more realistic results with a Wooly Willy
Mr. "management experience" can't even hire qualified graphical design professionals to make his disgusting racist mailers
Why did you just post a completely accurate untouched Cuomo photo?
jordan peterson lookin older these days
bro, don't cuddlefy cuomo
Hopefully they fashioned this one out of pubes
@zohrankmamdani.bsky.social please use this
Good shoops require an artistic ability. These kinds of people don't have that, they're so against "the arts."
they're getting desperate
Their mistake, it still looks totally good on you.
Damn dude they put you in the Homeland filter
I don't even understand how Cuomo has a chance considering the corruption he's so well known for and that's beyond the scandals with staff. It was his buddies and their "boxes of Ziti" scams stealing from New York for years. This guy should never be given power again.
Being corrupt rarely stops a politician from gaining office.
THE PEOPLE STAND WITH YOU, HERO ZOHRAN
tired playbook of which they seem to never tire
We will not be supporting Cuomo. Corruption at the federal level is enough.
Didn't Fox News used to do shit like this all the time?
CNN famously made Bernie all red and flushed after his heart attack.
how did they do it? my beard is full if grey, this would help !
Get his ass, Zohran
They're terrified of the Z Man
All my homies hate Andrew cuomo
Rolling down the street smokin indo, hating on Andrew cuomo
to the tune of the "Low Rider" song... 🤭
eve fartlow version
wish I could vote for you, go get em!
It works
Stupid fucks just enhanced your handsomeness. Hopefully it backfires. Nobody wants that piece of trash in office anywhere anymore. At least not anyone with decency
They also modified your hair to look more curly and full. This is such a sad tactic.
Your opponent appears to be an a$$hat
Why don’t you have a dick growing on your forehead, I am asking!!!
Man they really wouldn't like my beard It's at least four times as long
They turned you into Billy Mays
Hey @errollouis.bsky.social . I got a debate question for you...
Let’s hear it!
Thanks for asking! Let me revise my question. I misunderstood what Mr. Mamdami was saying so I'll rephrase it. Back in a minute.
@errollouis.bsky.social "Andrew Cuomo, today on social media, Zohran Mamdami accused a superpac supporting your campaign of editing his appearance so that his beard would be longer and darker. Mr. Mamdami characterized this practice as "racist" and "islamaphobic." (1/2)
"Do you consider intentionally editing the appearance of a political opponent to appear more stereotypically nonwhite to be "racist" or "islamaphobic" and if so, would you ask organizations supporting your campaign not to do it?" (2/3)
Then as a follow up, ask the other candidates to raise their hands if they think that intentionally lengthening and darkening a nonwhite muslim's beard is either "racist" or "islamaphobic", that way its a question for the field, not just Cuomo. (3/3). Thank you for your work Errol.
(or to make it broader on the follow-up maybe ask if altering a nonwhite person's appearance to accentuate their physical differences is "racist", and of course I leave the wording of the question to you. I just wanted to do the most, lol) (4/3)
Thanks for the suggestion—and welcome to the world of live Q&A! Here are some of the responses I would anticipate: -“I haven’t seen the flyer” -“I think he looks distinguished, haha” -“By law I can have no influence over an independent group” -“only if my opponent denounces [some obscure comment]”
Oh yeah, obviously he can go those routes. Each of those is in itself a dodge. Obv you have time constraints but a follow up "Valid. What do you, Andrew Cuomo, think of this tactic? Is it acceptable or not? Would you let your own campaign do it?"
Final note: Chris Sommerfeldt at the News has the sourcing on the flier. It's fix the city. I looked it up on the campaign finance site, but it's so recent they haven't had to file it. x.com/C_Sommerfeld...
Also that's where opening the question to the field can come in handy. I imagine Adrienne Adams or Brad Lander might have some thoughts about whether it's okay to photoshop them as more visibly nonwhite or nonchristian. (My source, I'm a Jew w a big nose and if someone did that to me...)
And if you want to really go in, you could say "you yourself have been accused of unfair smears in previous mayoral campaigns. In 1977 when you managed your father's mayoral campaign, posters saying "vote for cuomo not the homo" appeared all over the city" Was that an acceptable slogan?
“No worries, here’s a photo of it, and the comparison to the original image.” “So to clarify, you do not think that practice is racist?” “That isn’t what I asked. To repeat, would you agree or disagree with the idea that modifying the appears of someone to make them seem more…. is racist?”
While you're here, I'd suggest asking the candidates whether any of them would be willing to serve in another's administration if they aren't elected mayor. Would Lander or Stringer consider being a deputy mayor in a Mamdani administration? Would Tilson join a Cuomo administration?
Good one 🎯 especially for candidates that tend to get ranked together.
Just chiming in to second @petersterne.com's suggestion. Thanks, as always, Errol, for your receptivity, and looking forward to the debate. 🙏
Great job moderating!
that is so psychotic omg????
McCain’s campaign made Obama darker in their hit ads. www.cbsnews.com/news/study-2...
The anything-to-win ethos (or lack of ethos) far pre-dates Trump. Trump just pulled out all the few remaining stops, and did away with any pretenses of decency. The GOP has been rotten garbage for decades.
Clinton did the same - www.huffpost.com/entry/obama-...
And people try to tell us that America is not a racist country.
I don’t think anyone is making that argument at this point. We are for sure an openly racist country.
Well, yes. But there are those who are fully invested in not recognizing that! Or maybe they're invested in justifying it.
They did this with OJ. It’s all about generating fear www.arogundade.com/oj-simpson-m...
holy sh** people like to forget that aspect of the trail that caused the prosecution to lose and i don't know if it was bad if those were the tactics they were going to use
tbf, murderers are scary.
Yes, and darkening his skin in the picture associated dark skin with murderers, further reinforcing the racism
There’s no reason they couldn’t have posted his mugshot as-is. Darkening his skin was clearly meant to influence public opinion. Also at the time he was presumed innocent since he hadn’t had a trial yet, so it’s not right to publish an article implying guilt ahead of time.
Sure, but the fact that we *know* that darkening someone’s skin in this manner can be an effective way of creating doubt, mistrust, and Fear of the Other is proof of how deeply rooted this raciest construct is in our society.
*racist for the love of god, I’m begging for an edit button 😭
Tbf, there was probably enough evidence to convict him and things like this may have led to enough doubt regarding racist conspiracy to lead to his acquittal.
Yep. Trying to frame a guilty man only resulted in that guilty man going free.
Black men usually get their mug shot posted, if they did the crime or not. White men that murder their families get a picture of them on vacation with the family posted.
Read this short article by Matt Mahurin, the photographer/illustrator who edited the notorious OJ cover photo. This event raised awareness for greater cultural sensitivity in artists’ work. He darkens pretty much every thing he touches. (one of his many portraits of Tom Waits for for reference)
Mahurin didn't take the OJ photo. He purposefully made a photo, that he didn't take, look much darker.
www.quillmag.com/2024/06/25/f...
That's not even photoshopped--looks like black sharpie marker across brows mustache and beard ( like Trump with the weather map)
Oh my, look at this totally real photo of Andrew Cuomo sporting a new forhead tattoo! 😂
Damn that is a low blow. Just further proves you aren't just the better candidate, but the better man in general as well. I am rooting for you from afar in Utah and urging anyone who sees this to rank Mamdani #1 for NYC mayor in the primaries and DO NOT RANK Cuomo at all 😊🤘 rock on
Channel your outrage at Cuomo's donors into votes for Zohran: www.zohranfornyc.com/volunteer/ev...
Time to just release an ad with Cuomo's picture making make him as pale and pallid and ghostly white looking as possible.
they’re despicable
Huh, Dems acting like Republicans? Wow, who knew It makes me sick how so many people can look over this blatant racism, and still have the audacity to consider themselves progressive or worse "a leftist"
Honestly a fair amount of them work together across party lines in the name of “bipartisanship” but it’s just modern puritanical extremism 🙃
Less people get angry at bipartisanship. It's literally just dems folding to the Republicans. You never hear about Republicans needing to do bipartisanship. Gee wonder why..
It gives
still hot. would hit.
By Election Day they’ll have you looking like James Harden.
That's racist AF.
drag him
Not surprising from the guy who had his brother at @cnn.com try to make his SA accusations go away in the news. It was bad for their major business donors.
Stay classy, Andy.
Just throw some attractive women out as a roadblock and you'll be fine.
lol he’s so scared
Fuck him up
You have done the unthinkable and made Cuomo almost look acceptable.
How do you figure?
If that's about his stance on the current Israeli-Arab conflict, that shouldn't be an issue in a mayoral campaign. It was rotten when Koch made it an issue. How his governance, should he be elected, would effect the City's residents, including Jews and Muslims, should be what matters.
Mamdami made it an issue, but my main objection to him is that he is a naive and inexperienced state legislator who is asking to run one of the most complex governments in the world in a time when it is under attack by the US government.
Also I can’t support DSA
That's completely fair. John Lindsay said it's the 2nd-toughest job in America, and I think he was right. After all, Bloomberg is a really smart guy, but he never grasped that running a business and running a government are two different things, and his skills translated very badly.
And he didn’t support Harris
That is appalling!!! Good on you for calling it out
Gotta disagree here. The "original" is not the original, as it's clearly been clipped out and could easily have the extra beard growth clipped off. And "darker" is just because of the shit print quality.
It’s literally a picture of the guy who posted this post. Pretty sure he would know what he looks like. Also, look at literally any video on his social media posts lately. You’ll see you’re wrong.
Again, the "original" shot has CLEARLY had the background (crudely) edited out. So it's 10000% NOT the original. So the fact that he's lying about it being the "original" one is a huge red flag. Show us the REAL original.
GAYS
I remember when this was done to OJ Simpson. He was peanut colored when he was on top and then magically a chocolate chip color after he was accused of a crime.
GET HIS ASS
Get him king
Andrew Cuomo under estimates his ick factor.
And you’re way cuter with the shirt beard.
this is so deeply embarrassing for them holy flying fuck
They did this with Ossoff as well. Lengthened his nose. It's contemptible.
and not condemning attacks against Jewish people make you a nazi
no one buys this weak genocide apologia anymore, hasbara been
Cuomo is jealous he can't pull off a cute beard.
Why they would think making his beard even more delightful would be a bad thing is unfathomable to me. Just make it longer, and he'll be approaching Wizard status, so bonus points?
Wow the Hillary Clinton treatment
Perhaps more importantly they put dark shadows on your eyes to try to make you have like some kind of dark glare.
@okwonga.bsky.social dark stuff happening in the nyc mayoral election as the race gets closer and closer
Truly.
Purposefully making you look a more like 90s newspaper photos of Saddam Hussein? Seems fair, yup!
Darkened the shadows around your eyes too
Honestly this should be expected from the POS who came up with the slogan “Vote for Cuomo, Not the H***” for his father’s mayoral campaign.
omg, they are vicious as hell
as a lark, thank him for making you look more italian, just to see how he reacts :)
Be warned AIPAC is likely to do the same, because we know protecting a Centrist Democrat is their game, just like them defending MAGA Chuds.
OTOH, very manly
kinda feels like this should be against the law!
How mad must they have been that they could only find photos of your looking downright pleasant to be around.
It will be as effective as it was the last time centrists tried it against a charismatic progressive candidate. americablog.com/2008/03/why-...
Andrew just ashamed he can't grow such glorious facial hair
I received that mailer! Fear mongering from back to front. Only in the disclaimer box is there some truth: that DoorDash is one of the biggest donors.
Remember when AIPAC did it to @coribush.bsky.social?
"the kind of racism that explains why MAGA billionaires support his campaign."
That's equal parts horrible and ridiculous. Literally a cartoon gag.
NY with a good mayor. Now that would be something to behold.
They thickened it, too.
Kind of cool that they tried to make you look scary and instead turned you into a romance novel cover, this may not work they way they intended :)
Despicable.
Lmao they even put the graph behind you to make people think about the Twin Towers
I noticed that. And I would bet my right pinky that it was intentional. I know it's a paying gig, but as a fellow graphic designer, I just couldn't do political ads like that.
Oofa doofa, this is despicable
they're hitting you with the Barack HUSSEIN Obama
it's the exact combination of racism and truly atrocious photoshopping that you would expect from the sort of person who would support Cuomo.
If one of my undergrads turned in that Photoshop job, they'd get a B-minus.
Fr, my dog could do a better shop job, and he's a known idiot.
Thank you for calling it out directly...
Bigots going to bigot Fck Cuomo
that's wiiiild. i respect the hell out of you, man, you have balls of steel. first of all, charisma is off the charts, kudos. secondly, an openly socialist mayor of the finance capital of the world? next level. best of luck. i don't live in NYC anymore but i'm making sure my network does right.
wow
Go get him, Zohran! You got this. Don’t let them do this to you. You and your constituents deserve better.
Fucking wild
i mean, it tracks bsky.app/profile/redl...
Don't forget the they lightened your skin too.
Fredo only knows how to win in a system rigged for him. Look at how he did Patterson dirty because he felt entitled to be governor. Carpetbagger!
He has known that sort of dirty shit since he was a teen… It’s a family thing. Remember when Koch ran against his dad and signs started appearing along Queens Blvd saying “Vote for Cuomo, Not the Homo!”
They altered my mans skin complexion, gave him a longer thiccer beard, and was like 1000% this isn't Islamaphobic or racist at all. Why are they doing this to my mayor?
Yeah it's funny how they focused more on changing his undertone from cool to olive (thus making him look more "Middle Eastern'), than on darkening it
They are awful
The way Cuomo is trying to spook New York conservatives you’d think he’d just drop out of the primary and announce a general election run as a Republican.
“You would say that—you have the brainpan of a stagecoach tilter!” — Cuomo, probably
When all they have is lies, hate, ignorance, and fear-mongering.... I find it so baffling that they're so clueless as to not see that they are SO on the wrong side of history.
andrew cuomo is garbage & it's a miracle nobody's circulating mailers that photoshop him nipping out all weirdly during that covid press conference. and also, his tricks backfired because both photos here are a solid "would."
cuomo’s so desperate he used the saddam hussein filter on our boy
“make him look more 9/11-y”
I think fox news licenses out that filter
Ngl, I like what they did. You look good, but the original is technically cropped better and is a better photograph in general.
Cuomo… I know Trump fell for the MS-13 bullshit but… most of us aren’t imbeciles.
Cuomo is afraid, period. Just like so many of his pathetic ilk. Frightened little men-children with no friends and little if any love and happiness in their lives. Boo-fucking-hoo.
Predictably bsky.app/profile/zmur...
damn, they gave you the new york times filter.
Jesus Christ man hahaha he's trying to put the terrorist filter on you or some shit.
Being muslim is better than being a Rapist catholic
Respond with a mailer showing Cuomo artifiically harassing several additional women.
Cuomo’s YouTube ads also blatantly mischaracterize your position on raising taxes on the middle class.😡
Bah, it's a fine beard that any person should be proud to own. That's also Islamophobic bs on Cuomo's part.
Jesus F***ing Christ. If he’s doing stuff like this we are cooked. I hate to see say it in 2025, but racism and fear mongering, while repugnant, actually does work.
Am I even allowed to ❤️ this? 😭
LOL! I'm dying. Love it.
Did not know Senpai Mumdani was Japonese
That's Mount Fuji. He's not running for Mayor of Tokyo! Oddly, Tokyo's housing issue is too much empty housing, instead of not enough for poor people.
ha ha that fool, doesn't he know your beard is the source of your powers? lengthening it only makes you stronger! I may be confusing you with Samson
Jokes on him, I'm a median voter in central park west and everyone has been blurry to me since 1993.
I'm shocked Mamdani will never go negative in this campaign. Andrew Cuomo groped and molested a State Police trooper. That should matter. People should read that part of James' report.
Obvious racism but the beard looks better in the mailer
Wow they literally took a photo of a regular-looking guy and made it look as much like a historical image of Saddam Hussein as they could with just sliders. Gross.
WE THE PEOPLE ARE NOT RACIST IDIOTS. THAT IS REPUBLICANS. WE KNOW REPUBLICANS TRICKS. WE DO NOT WANT CUOMO OR NEED HIM.
Pathetic but completely unsurprising
If anyone needs to be more permanently put in their place it’s the egomaniacal, bullying, misogynist, nepo baby Cuomo. Please win.
Man the darkening could be forgiven as a lighting effect but they really had to get in photoshop for that beard. Or maybe these days just prompt an AI with "make this dude look more like a scary Muslim"?
"foreign him up a bit guys, you know what i mean, durka durka ok?"
Zohran for mayor. Cuomo for prison.
surprised they didn’t add a turban tbh
It's obviously attempting to harken to photos of 9-11 kidnappers.
Damn that's a scary beard...
This is the particular kind of nastiness the democratic party does when an outsider threatens their hierarchy. Real mask-off shit. See also: Cori Bush, Alex Morse, etc.
AGAIN, CUOMO IS A DEMOCRAT IN NAME ONLY… A DINO. 😂🤣 CUOMO IS 100% A PIECE OF SHIT. LIKE ERIC ADAMS, HE 100% IS CORRUPT. …REMEMBER HOW HE “MANAGED” ALBANY AS GOVERNOR?!? TOTAL CORRUPTION 24/7/365. DON’T LET ME DOWN, NEW YORK! YOU GOT THIS. VOTE PROGRESSIVE UP AND DOWN THE BALLOT.
You Don't Mess With Zohran
They removed the brown then deep-fried everything else. They made you look like a Chick-fil-A chicken wing.
The most terrifying thing a politician can be: a user of Just For Men
Wow, this is absolutely shameless and shitty. It's not surprising when people like that do something like this, but it's still a problem. Ugh.
I'd say that backfired. They made you look a decade younger.
Cuomo is “Hussein”ing you.
Disgusting! 🤮
That didn't even do a good job of it either it looks like they drew it on themselves by hand
Cuomo is dodgy AF
That’s really racist. Combo should see himself to the middle of the Atlantic
You got my vote in Honor of Billy Mays.
Awesome Hussein amirite
darked your brows and fucked up your haircut too
yup... democrats can be WORSE than MAGA
looks like a HIMS ad
listen, I know this isn't what you want to hear and it's shitty but it's the first thing I noticed: the photoshop actually made you look more handsome.
i say both would rape and or murder you if they got the chance 👍🏼
Looks like they tried to use a still they pulled of the Zapruder film, *what* is that blur
Liberals need to stop being okay with this blatant bigotry.
The eyebrows too, making your eyes much darker. A real shadowy figure!
