On Tuesday’s episode of MSNBC’s ‘Morning Joe,’ a panel of analysts assessed the final days of Andrew Cuomo’s mayoral campaign, concluding that while his efforts have been strong, it is likely ‘too late’ to overtake Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani. Despite effective final-week advertising, experts suggested that Cuomo’s campaign struggled with initial social media outreach and Mamdani’s strong visual appeal may have sealed the outcome.
Senior contributor Mike Barnicle questioned who was running Cuomo’s campaign, noting that the ads released in the final week before the election have been ‘very effective.’ Carolyn Ryan of The New York Times replied that the closing argument has been better, but that they struggled a little bit on the social media front. Ryan explained that Mamdani is cinematic and that his stuff has been of a different level, making the question of whether Cuomo’s argument is too late.
Host Joe Scarborough concurred with both panelists’ takeaways on the final days of Cuomo’s campaign, conceding that while his ads have been ‘really strong,’ they may not be enough to get him over the finish line. Scarborough recalled that the campaign had been ‘hapless, listless, directionless,’ but praised the final ads as ‘strong.’ Despite these efforts, panelists agreed that the final push may not be enough to change the outcome.
Zach Sage Fox, CEO of Fat Camp Films, was hired by Cuomo’s campaign after the withdrawal of current Mayor Eric Adams from the race. He was contracted to produce eight to 10 social media videos for the campaign. Although Fox told Fox News Digital that the race ‘started tightening in direct relation’ with his company’s revamp of Cuomo’s social media, he also questioned whether the efforts came too late in the game. Fox noted, ‘We had under one month to do a good job, and there’s a million other factors and a million other pieces of the pie that we’re not a part of.’
Overall, the consensus among the panelists was that while Cuomo’s final-week efforts were strong, the timing may have been too late to reverse the momentum in favor of Mamdani.