Cuomo faces backlash after campaign releases, then deletes, AI-generated ‘Criminals for Zohran Mamdani’ ad on social media

Independent mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo received sharp criticism after his campaign inadvertently launched an AI-generated “Criminals for Zohran Mamdani” ad on social media during Wednesday night’s mayoral debate, which was labeled as “racist” and “Islamophobic.” 

The two-minute ad, aired around 20 minutes after the start of the Oct. 22 debate, was quickly deleted by the Cuomo campaign — but drew widespread condemnation from social media users and has been reshared countless times.