With New York Mayor Eric Adams bowing out of the 2025 mayoral race, CNN’s Erin Burnett saw fit to interview the frontrunner: State Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani. What ensued was not so much an interview as it was the construction of a warm cocoon from which Mamdani could emerge if it was safe enough.
The interview opens with a reaction to the news of Adams dropping out, with Burnett going so far as to speculate that there may have been some sort of quid pro quo between President Donald Trump and Adams. From there, Burnett moves towards a retribution question, specifically Trump’s threats to withhold funding to the city if they elect Mamdani.
Each of these is a softball very carefully crafted so as to elicit a crafted response from Mamdani, with infinitesimal pushback or followup from Burnett. Consider this exchange on whether Mamdani would order the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:
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