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Democrat New York Governor Kathy Hochul embarrassingly mispronounced New York City mayoral favorite Zohran Mamdani's name several times at a rally for the socialist candidate, earning jeers among his vocal supporters. Hochul butchered Mamdani's name at least four times Sunday during her roughly 10-minute-speech campaigning for the candidate, who she declined to endorse until he had already won the Democratic primary in June. During one particularly awkward moment at the event in Queens, Hochul completely stopped speaking as she listened to the crowd chanting 'say his name' and yelling the correct pronunciation of 'Mamdani.' As the crowd grew louder and kept shouting, Hochul said 'Zohran' and then started to say 'Mamdani,' but appeared to think better of it, not wanting to mispronounce it again. For about four seconds, she kept her head up and smiled out at rowdy fans of the 34-year-old New York assemblyman. She then gave a brief look down at her notes before returning to her speech. Several minutes later, Hochul's speech approached its crescendo as she advocated for universal child care, a policy both she and Mamdani want to pursue at the city and state levels. 'Here's something I can tell you about personally. New York's first mom governor, we need more child care, and it has to be universal. Child care for everyone who wants it. So here's what we're going to do,' she began. Hochul did not get to elaborate before the crowd began shouting, 'Tax the rich!', the primary way Mamdani wants to fund free child care among a myriad of other priorities. Hochul, who has flatly rejected the wealth tax Mamdani wants to implement, was forced to acknowledge the energy at Forest Hills Stadium. She again bared a wide smile and said: 'Well, this crowd is fired up.' The 'Tax the rich' chants refused to die down until Hochul said, 'Alright, I can hear you!' The attendees then burst into raucous cheers. The moment was emblematic of the political tightrope Hochul, a centrist Democrat, will have to walk if she wants to be re-elected governor next year. She faces a left-wing challenge in the Democratic primary from her lieutenant governor, Antonio Delgado. An endorsement from Mamdani, now the most prominent New York leftist politician, could propel her to the nomination. Mamdani has not said whether he'll back Hochul. GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik, of New York, has signaled that she is interested in running for governor and said Hochul's performance at the Mamdani rally 'could not have been more of a disaster.' 'Hochul truly is the Worst Governor in America and voters across the political spectrum, including even the Socialists she bent the knee to, all know that she is truly the Worst Governor in America. New Yorkers will fire Kathy Hochul next year,' she said. Stefanik also mocked Hochul for saying after the rally that she thought the crowd was saying 'Let's go Bills' instead of 'Tax the rich.' 'The Worst Governor in America @KathyHochul from Buffalo desperately blames the Bills for facing ruthless heckles from the Socialists,' she wrote on social media, adding that Hochul 'literally chanted back "I hear you!" to the Tax The Rich chants!' Mamdani remains the favorite to win the election on November 4, with early voting having begun on Saturday. By the end of Monday, over 223,000 New Yorkers had casted a ballot, according to the New York City Board of Elections. The most votes have come from the biggest three boroughs — Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn — all of which Mamdani won in the primary. A new poll from Suffolk University had Mamdani at 44 percent support among 500 likely voters. Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo topped out at 34 percent, with Republican Curtis Sliwa at 11 percent. David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center, said the poll's results showed that Cuomo is being held back by Sliwa's decision to stay in the race. 'There is one person in New York City whose voters could have an outsized impact on the outcome,' Paleologos said. 'It’s Republican Curtis Sliwa, whose voters hold the 11% blocking Cuomo from winning the race. And when asked for their second choice, those voters preferred Cuomo over Mamdani 36 percent to 2 percent.
