Former Dem advisor says he's 'almost speechless' at Mamdani's 'enraging' anti-cop comments, laments NYC crime

Former Democratic Party advisor Dan Turrentine blasted New York democratic socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani for his recently resurfaced comments on law enforcement.

Since he won the Democratic primary, Mamdani has faced blistering criticism from both Republicans and Democrats for his rhetoric, such as refusing to disavow the phrase "globalize the intifada," which many argue is a call for violence.

Most recently, Mamdani’s 2020 interview on the "Immigrantly" podcast went viral on social media. In the clip, Mamdani argued that if one looks at the history of the New York Police Department, "you can see that we have invested in a system that functions in many ways to punish poor Black and Brown people." He went on to claim that these officers are overstepping their proper roles, whether they are called in to handle a homeless person on a train or if somebody is "surviving, you know, going through domestic violence."

Co-host Mark Halperin noted "the notion that police shouldn't be called in cases of domestic violence," and turned to Turrentine, also a co-host on the show, to ask, "What do you think of that? Is that something that's going to hurt him or not?"

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Zohran Mamdani, New York City mayoral candidate, during an election night event in New York, US, early on Wednesday, June 25, 2025. Photographer: Christian Monterrosa/Bloomberg via Getty Images (Christian Monterrosa/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Turrentine, who worked under Hillary Clinton when she was a New York senator and Colorado Gov. Jared Polis when he was in the House of Representatives, shared his hope on The Morning Meeting podcast that the Democratic Party condemns this politician. 

"I'm almost speechless. Like, that is so enraging," Turrentine said. "It's crazy. I hope it hurts him. Like, when I hear that, and I try to have an open mind, hope that whoever our next mayor is makes this city a great place. I live [here]. We have children here. New York City police officers put themselves in such harm's way. This city is full of crazy people on subways. I, our children go on it. The number of times that there are homeless people who are, like, out of their mind who come up to kids, who scream at them right near - to say the police are the [problem], I hope our party condemns him."

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Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani takes the stage at his primary election party.  ((AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

Turrentine lamented the mere prospect of how things would be "if Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand and everybody cannot stand up for the NYPD after the progress they've made with crime the last few years," recalling how New York City went from a "hellhole" to being relatively stable, up until recently.

On the podcast, former Trump Press Secretary Sean Spicer, also a co-host, honed in on the domestic violence comments, mocking the idea that some sort of social worker is a better person to contact in such cases than a police officer. "I don't want someone to come in and ask them about their feelings. I want them to protect me," he said. 

Podcast hosts Mark Halperin, Sean Spicer, and Dan Turrentine speak on the 2Way podcast.

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He added, "Aside from all of the stuff that Dan rightly brought up, which I agree with, it doesn't pass the common sense test," he said. "If someone is being brutalized, attacked, you want someone who can protect you, stop them. And this just shows the stupidity that is being perpetrated on folks right now."

Fox News Digital reached out to Mamdani's office and did not receive an immediate reply.