The Daily Show: Ears Edition - NYC Mayor Race: Mamdani Hits the Club, Cuomo Fingers His O.J. Bronco | Sanna Marin

Episode Date: November 5, 2025

As Election Day wraps up, Jordan Klepper recaps the suspenseful NYC mayoral race infused with Islamophobic fearmongering of Zohran Mamdani and an uphill battle for Andrew Cuomo, culminating in an 11th-hour scandal over a Billy Joel song. Plus, Ronny Chieng reports that Cuomo is feeling confident, thanks to his lucky O.J. Simpson-style Ford Bronco and other criminal-lookalike charms. The eyes of the world seem to be on the New York City mayoral race, so Grace Kuhlenschmidt conducted her own Times Square exit poll to ask non-New Yorkers which candidate they endorse for an election they can't vote in. “There’s always hope if there’s action.” Former Prime Minister of Finland, Sanna Marin, talks to Jordan about her new memoir, “Hope In Action.” She details her experience of being elected to office at the age of 34, the double standard she faced in the media because of her youth and gender, and the solidarity she felt from other female political leaders in her country and around the world. They also discuss how a Nordic welfare state creates a system of more equal opportunities, the benefits of a multi-party parliamentary system, and why it’s imperative that young people from diverse backgrounds participate in the world’s democracies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

At Desjardin, we speak business. We speak equipment modernization. We're fluent in data digitization and expansion into foreign markets. And we can talk all day about streamlining manufacturing processes. Because at Desjardin business, we speak the same language you do. Business. So join the more than 400,000 Canadian entrepreneurs who already count on us. And contact Desjardin today.

We'd love to talk, business. You're listening to Comedy Central. From the most trusted journalists at Comedy Central, it's America's only source for new. This is The Daily Show with your host, Jordan Clever. Welcome to the daily show. I'm going to clap, but we got so much to talk about tonight. Donald Trump issues and endorsement threats. California votes to turn bluer than a smurf orgy,

and New Yorkers head to the ballot box to votes and also probably urinate. So, let's get right at her all with Election Day coverage with Indecision 2025. Let's start in California. will attempt to rig the voting maps to squeeze out some extra seats for Democrats, which is a response to Texas rigging its voter map for Republicans. And I know this looks like a race to the bottom

that will destroy the foundations of democracy in the United States. But let's move on. Because there's also some closely watched governors' races in New Jersey and Virginia. These races gathering a lot of interest around the country, especially from one very specific low-information voter.

Well, the president tonight also warned New Jerseyans and Virginians not to vote Democratic, saying, quote, you will rue the day that you voted to destroy your life. Rue the day? Just a fun tip. You never want your endorsements to sound like something Skeletor

would scream at he-man. You know what, frankly, I'm not going to stand for this. There's only one Rue that I recognize, and that's Rue McClan. Yes, yes. Blanche was the best golden girl. She liked to fuck, but she kept it fun.

Miss you, girl, I miss you. Well, while New Jersey and Virginia decide on who will be ruined who, most of the country today is focused on a mayoral race, and a quaint little seaside town called New York City. I see you've heard of it. The Democratic frontrunner Zohran Mom Dani was campaigning this weekend, and based on his itinerary, see if you can guess how confident he is. Are you ready to win this race?

God damn. Come on the way you're the one for me. Come on, come on. God damn! Is he running a campaign or a bachelor party? I'll tell you. Be careful, Zoran. You party this hard.

You're gonna catch feelings for capitalism. Free school lunches sound nice until you get used to that bottle service life. But clearly Zoran has been riding high the last few days of of the campaign, clubbing all weekend, swinging by a Knicks game, and he even appeared on the kiss cam with Karl Marx. So very nice.

Meanwhile, Zohred's Republican opponent is Curtis Sliwa, a tough-on-crime, beret-wearing vigilante leader who has been shot in what was reportedly a mob hit. What was his final pitch to voters? I assume it was something like death penalty for all the bad guys. Animals are viewed as property in New York State.

and we're going to turn that around. Wow. You thought Mom Dani was radical. This guy's out here like, humans are going to be the pets from now on. Of course, no one is really giving Sliwa a chance. The only man with a chance of perhaps beating Mom Dani is Andrew Cuomo.

Former New York governor and mayoral candidates most likely to tell the Statue of Liberty she has a hell of ass. After having lost to the primary to Mom Dani, he is now running as an independent. And Mom Dani is out there in the clubs. I assume Cuomo's final campaign pitch is de serious and de policy-driven.

A little trivia today, because a lot of questions have been asked. This is a 1996 board Bronco. Yes, it is an oldie, but it is a goodie. We're going to win. Why? Because of this Ford Bronco. Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on. Okay, okay. A Ford Bronco?

A white mid-90s Ford Bronco. Isn't that... Isn't that O.J.'s car? This was his final pitch to voters. Hey, guys, check it out. I own the only vehicle on the planet associated with murder. And if you're an O.J. head, you know

his famous car chase happened in 1994. Which means Cuomo went car shopping two years later and thought, yeah, this will help me pick up the chicks. You know what? Don't worry. Andrew Cuomo isn't that oblivious. He's very aware that this car brings up bad memories of loose juice. Also been ridiculed quite a bit. People saying, oh, that's the O.J. Brong bit.

Actually, it's not the O.J. Bronin. And if you look closely, you will see the black and gold stripe on the side that clearly distinguishes it from the O.J. Brown. Yeah, I see that. Okay, okay, okay. Okay, okay. Andrew, Andrew. Can you please not touch it like that?

Yeah, yeah. I mean, come on, come on. I mean, why don't you lick your finger? This is my truck's clitoris right here, just right here. Believe me, believe me. You can show off your cool car without doing one in the pink, two in the stink. Now, that's surprising, as it may seem, mom donnie's critics are not super confident

and Andrew Cuomo's final message of, Watch me Flick the Bean on my murder car. So, it's a tough bitch, tough bitch. So, some Republican officials have stepped in with a last ditch Hail Mary message. Hey, doesn't this guy look like 9-11? He is a jihadist. This is someone who went and did a photo op

with an unindicted co-conspirator of the World Trade Center bombing. And it's really unthinkable that a little over 20 years since 9-11, you could have a pro-hamas, jihadist, full-blown communist who wants to defund the police as mayor of the greatest city in the world. Last night, Representative Andy Ogles posted a video of the 9-11 attacks with the caption, Wake Up, New York. Oh, how dare you, sir?

Boo! Boom! Yes! So, Redmond, Doni, obviously did not do 9-11. We all know Bush did 9-11. Seriously, the cynical attempt to inject Islamophobia into this race is disgusting. Disagree with Mom Dani's politics all you want. But his culture and faith is as much a part of New York as anyone else's.

And there is nothing you can show me that will make me doubt for even one second that Mam Dani does not belong in this great city. Zoran Mamdani, unable to name Billy Joel's iconic song, New York State of Mind. You know, as a politician, it's important to be honest. Plays the piano. From Long Island. Oh! You commie, son of a bitch.

Get the hell out of New York and never come back. For more coverage on the final day of the New York City mayoral race, we go to Cuomo campaign headquarters with our very own Ronnie Chang. Ronnie. Ronnie. How many? Honey, how's Cuomo spending the last few hours? Well, definitely not.

touching women if that was what you're going to ask. No, I wasn't. Okay, good, because he's not. Okay? People keep bringing up Cuomo's past, but the Cuomo campaign is asking, what about Zoran's problems? Is it a Ugandan and an Indian, and a

Muslim, and a socialist? That's too many things. Yeah, aren't you a Chinese, Malaysian, American by way of Australia? Yeah, and I'm shady as hell. Okay? Why do you think I had to move so much? You shouldn't vote for me either.

We're not. We're talking about Cuomo. Right. Cuomo is confident he's going to win because he spent a day canvassing the city in his lucky Ford Bronco. And to give him even more luck, he wore this, this lucky sweater. Right. I'm, Ronnie, I'm sorry. Is that a Bill Cosby sweater? What? No, no, it's not a Bill Cosby sweater, okay? It's got a totally different patent here, okay? You just, you just feel it right here.

Here, it doesn't... No, no. Look, Cosby sweaters don't have this kind of stitching, okay? This brings Andrew Cuomo good luck when he talks to voters, or serves women coffee. Ronnie, Ronnie. Stop! Why are you touching the sweater like that?

The campaign informed me that this is a very normal way to touch sweaters. Okay. All right. It seemed a little odd to me that it looks so similar to Cosby's. No, you have 13 sexual harassment cases.

I didn't say anything about the cases, man. Oh, okay. Sorry. Yeah, everyone's just on edge over here. The guy can't have a lucky car or sweater or sit next to their. His lucky phycus plant? And let me stop you right now. Okay?

No, it's not the same fikas plant that Harvey Weinstein jerked off into, okay? This plant grew from the seedlings of that plant. I didn't know fikas plants could bring good luck. Yeah, they don't unless you jerk off into them. Anyway, Andrew Cuomo would like you to stop connect these innocent, lucky charms to grow sex scandals and instead connect Zoran to Marxist jihadist extremism.

Okay, if he gets elected, he could do Communist 9-11. What is Communist 9-11? Well, that's where every building in New York City gets hit a little bit equally. Okay, Ronnie. Ronnie. Ronnie. Ronnie, that is pathetic.

Does Cuomo really think that Islamophobic Fear Mongry is going to play in New York City? Yes, in fact, Cuomo is going to slide right into the mayor's mansion thanks to his lucky baby oil. And no, okay, it doesn't belong to who you think it does. This is Diddy's baby oil. That's who I thought it was.

Oh, okay, well, then you nailed it. Roddy Chang, everybody. When we come back, we found out what New Yorkers think about the election. They'll go away. Welcome back to the daily show. New York isn't just some town on the Hudson River. It's an international city that draws visitors from around the world. eager to visit cultural institutions like the Times Square M&M store,

the Times Square Red Lobster, and of course, the Statue of Liberty, souvenir shelf in Times Square. That's why as New Yorkers pick their next mayor, a lot of non-New Yorkers are watching closely. Don't forget about the election in New York City. Yes, we're a local station in Kansas City. Why does New York matter? Well, it's the biggest city in the country, right?

New York is New York. This is what an American political earthquake looks like. The election of New York. He'll do the thing just, uh, mandami.

Mamdani, can wonder, relative venice. Zaron Mamdani and his two rivals, independent, Andrew Kumau, and Republican, Curtis Silva.

Oh, how did you pronounce Zoran Mamdani correctly? But then stumble with Silva and Kumo. Iowa, you are a real mystery. But with the rest of America,

us so interested in what's happening with our mayoral race, we set our own Grace Koolenshmidt to ask them to mind their own business. A ton of non-New Yorkers have weighed in on the New York City mayoral election. So we're in Times Square for real-time exit pulling data of who non-New Yorkers would vote for if they could. I am from L.A. Go Dodgers. Okay, gotcha. Do you care about this New York City mayoral election? Yes.

Even though you're from Los Angeles. Yes. So you're from St. Louis. out of San Luis. Woo! Go blues! Go blues! What's blues?

I'm wondering where are you from? Savannah, Georgia. Do you think that you care about this race because you're jealous you don't live here? Honestly, a little bit. So you're super jazzed about this election. What's stopping you from becoming a resident of New York and voting? Well, you know what? I have been a resident of New York.

I love it. I love the Tribeca. I love the Times Square. I love all of it. What's not to love about Times Square? What's not so where you're from? I'm from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Who do you want to be mayor of New York and why do you give a shit since you are from Pittsburgh?

Um, I don't know how much of a shit I go? Just curious. Who is the mayor of your city? Who is the mayor? Oh, you know what? I don't know. I don't know he's the mayor. Do you hope that the new New York City mayor brings down the cost of you getting a photo with that monkey over there?

Yeah, inflation is kind of crazy right now. I mean, I know affordability is a big issue here in New York City. Definitely. We're just trying to not spend our whole paychecks on rent. paychecks on rents. That would be nice. Yeah, that would be nice. I mean, what do you pay? I pay a thousand fifty a month. What the f***. Holy shit. And what town is that again? Well, that's in Williston, Vermont. In what? Williston, Vermont. All right, I'm good. So as someone who just came out of the

Ripley's Believe You're Not Museum, can you believe this election? I can't. I can't. I can't. As a person who may not stray more than 10 blocks from Times Square, what are the issues that are affecting you the most in New York City? In Times Square specifically, the lack of pizza places? We had a lot of time finding good pizza places where we did not have to wait in line. Which candidate could address the lack of pizza in Times Square? And if you say Cuomo, you are racist. Okay. Are you voting today?

Like, I could if I could, but I'm not from you. And who would you vote for to then? that? Well, I see stuff on TikTok about New York and... Yeah, that's my favorite news source. I gotta say there's a guy, I think his name's Mom Donnie. Yep. So who do you want to be mayor of New York? Badami. Did I say his name?

Mom Donnie. Mom Donnie. Mom Donnie. That's an endorsement. Mom Donnie. There you go. Are you paying attention to the New York City mayoral election that's happening right now? Not really.

Not really at all. Do you know, like, anyone who's even in the running? No. No clue. Not really. So you don't care about who wins the mayoral election of New York? It's New York City. It's New York City.

Look at all of our electronic billboards. Our pride and joy. I love it. It's nice. Thank you. Thank you, Grace. We come back. Sanae, we're in.

We'll be going to be on the show. Don't go away. Welcome back to the Daily Show. My guest tonight is the former Prime Minister of Fidland. Her new book is called Hope in Action, a memoir about the courage to lead. Please welcome Sana Marin. You bought your own book.

You don't trust the American fake media. You know, this copy is for you because I signed it. You signed it? So we can swap. We can swap it. Do you want this? I signed it as well. It was strange.

Thank you so much. But I felt, yes. Did you write something nice in it? Can I out you in this? The Jordan. Wait, so you didn't write anything? You just wrote to Jordan. I can write something in here.

I will sell this one and write something more personal than that one. That is perfect. Let's do that. Thank you for being here. Well, thank you so much for having me. Yes. First of all, I read this book. In New York, the best city in the world.

Thank you. Yes. Yes. Yes. I will, I mean, I read this book and I get jealous of Finland. It seems like a very happy place. It's voted year in and year out the happiest place on the globe. Like, why is that?

Do you guys not have social media? Well, we do. You do? Unfortunately. Yes. But Finland is to have the happiest country in the world. But if you ask the people, they will answer you, we're not happy at all. No.

No, we are not cheerful. We aren't happy. Did you see the clip or the meme during COVID when people, we, as a government, me as a prime minister, said to people that they have to stay too much. meters apart. And they were like, do we have to really get closer to meters to other people?

Like, we're not cheerful. We don't like people. See, this is the narrative we need to get out, that people are miserable everywhere. We think Finland has got it all figured out, but in the end, you guys are grumpy and you didn't like the masks

and have to stay that far apart, right? Yeah, but we like coffee. You do like coffee? We drink the most coffee in the world. Is that right? That is correct. Why is that? How do you connect that

to the Finnish personality? Well, if you visit Finland right now in November, you will understand the reason, because it's so cold, it's so rainy, it's so horrible weather. We love coffee and we hate people. Come visit. Come visit. Come visit. It's miserably cold and we're going to bitch about it, but we have coffee, and where else could you get this on that planet? Exactly, exactly.

It's sort of amazing. I mean, you were the youngest prime minister of Finland at 34. And you talk about this in the book. And you also talk about how Finland is very different than places like America. But you talk a bit about the Nordic welfare state. Tell me a bit about that. And also, if that, like, I think when we hear that somebody is 34 in a position of power in America, our minds explode. We don't even let you consider being president of the United States at 34.

Like, is there a connection to sort of the welfare system in a place like Finland? and your ability to get into politics so early? Well, I think the most amazing thing, and one thing that I'm really proud of in Finland is our schooling system that allows everybody to become anything, even though your backgrounds might be difficult, like mine is personally as well. I come from a poor, unprivileged family, but we have amazing day care system, an amazing schooling system

that gives people the equal opportunities, and I think this is amazing. It doesn't hurt. It doesn't hurt. You mentioned in the book, you have essentially a baby basket that is given to children. Baby box. Baby box. What is a baby box?

It contains everything that new family needs. Closing, different kind of things that the baby needs. A sense of purpose for the dad who suddenly feels irrelevant? Stick that in there? And actually, you can also use the baby box itself as a bassinet for the baby. Really? Yeah. You can do that with an Amazon box, too.

Doesn't make you dad of the ear, but... No. But that's sort of symbolic of what the nation does. I know we're talking a lot about the mayoral race, and Mom Donnie has mentioned bringing something like that to New York City, that you give parents right off the bat, like baby baskets, I believe. We are very happy to help with the baby box. Good, good, thank you.

Help us with taking care of kids and that coffee. I think that can help. Coffee, baby box, horrible weather. distance to people, I think you need it. I think I need it. In New York, come. I could use a little more distance from people in New York. I definitely could.

It's curious, you know, talking about the Finnish electoral system, but also the Finnish government. You have eight to nine political parties. It's a parliamentary system. And as I'm reading this, I'm so jealous of what that system looks like because it instills, correct me if I'm off base here, but like a lack of identity based on one political party. The ability to compromise and shift with another party

seems much more necessary and available to a system that has so many options. And you have to compromise with other people, otherwise nothing gets done. Yeah. Yeah. How do we get that here? I don't know how you get that here, but I led a government of five parties,

and all parties were led by women during my period of time. And four of us leaders were under 40 years old, so that also tells something about Finland. But I truly appreciate our parliamentary system, and also the fact that we always have coalition governments. Because then you have to compromise, and you have to find consensus. And there is something beautiful about that kind of way of thinking, that you don't go only with your own ideas. But you have to listen. You have to understand. You have to understand different values, and then you can find compromises on a middle ground.

And I think that is something that we lack today in our democracies, especially with social media, ever-ending polarizing stories and very negative news cycles. So I truly appreciate a space where we can also disagree and then find compromises together. I think that's beautiful. You mentioned other female leaders. You talked to other world leaders. female world leaders. And you mentioned in the book a sense of loneliness, that it's a unique position, especially for a woman in that position. Like, how did you find that? As somebody who is trailblazing there, and every narrative that we hear about what's happening over there focuses on

your gender and your youth. How did you find navigating that? Well, during my period, there was the pandemic, war in Ukraine, or accession to NATO, fastest ever. Humble, brag. Of course. We are also known from our humbleness. So there was a lot of crises, and we also had a very reformistic governmental program. So we fulfilled 98% of that, also very humble. So I didn't have the time to think about my age or my gender or all those things that the media was interesting about.

I was handling the crises and all the things on my desk. So I was very happy about that. Not the crisis is, but the fact that I could focus on that and not maybe the media. Well, so much of this book, the work of leadership is about negotiation and working with people across the aisle. It lives in that. But it also talks about how you were pulled away from that with the controversies and how the media was, frankly, cruel and focused on your youth. There was a scandal with videos about you partying and enjoying yourself outside. What was there a scandal?

Is there a scandal? Oh, my God. There's actually a whole chapter of my scandals. Oh, I read it first. That's what I was like, I got to read the scandals, and I'll get into the governing later. Thank you. And they're all hilarious.

They're hilarious. At least by names. Would you have one? I think... By names. They are hilarious names. The blazer scandal. Yeah.

The breakfast scandal. Yes. Phone scandal and the dancing scandal. And the dancing scandal. Oh, my God. Which one do you think was most outrageous to the public? Well, maybe the dancing scandal, and singing and singing at a friend's apartment.

Yes. at a free night. That is scandalous. An act of joy that's being shared by other people is something that the media would let off. Very scandalous from the Finnish perspective. I was going to say... Somebody enjoying life. Oh my God.

Come on. She should be miserable and drinking coffee in the corner. Yeah. Staying away from people. How did you... It's fascinating because over here we don't get a lot of Finnish politics. Sorry. We're focused... That's fine.

You might now elect a mayor that. And mayor, that is a bit social democrat. He's a social democrat. Yes, it depends who you ask. Or he caused 9-11, according to some people, as well. But it's curious, that scandal travels, as everything does in a media cycle that focuses on the sensational. What was curious to find here was the comrades-in-arms, AOC, Hillary Clinton, like, joined in to sort of mock the chaos that was around that. Did you find the silver lining in that with that newfound attention?

and you and your country? I don't know, it felt, of course, personally, the whole scandal felt a bit absurd and then maybe a tiny bit out of proportioned. But of course I appreciated the solidarity that I got from women. And I think that was because women can feel those kind of double standards everywhere where they live.

I think no man, No man leader, no male leader, was ever asked questions like, how can you be a leader when you have a small child at home? Or how can you be at work today when you went yesterday to a pub with your friends to what football game and drank two beers? How dare you be a professional today? So I think there is double standard. And of course, women wanted to show their support, and I'm really appreciative of that.

Yeah. I mean, I, if you, you see the videos of Donald Trump dancing, I wish that were more of a scandal. We need to shame this person out of attempting to find joy and make weird jerk-off motions. It's offensive to us all. It's curious, though, you're no longer in politics, right? Do you have an interest of getting back into politics?

I have said that I would never say never. I'm not... You just said it, you said it twice in that sentence, I think. I would never say never. You'd never say never. And I'm still working on political issues. Climate change, human rights. Of course, equality.

I want to support women. And I want to commit my life to that. Because I've also seen how difficult it is to be a woman in those positions. And we need more women in a powerful position. So I want to support women. And also my book, it is, a feministic piece as well. So I hope you read it.

And maybe you'll learn something. I hope I read it too. I totally read it. Or you can listen to it. I can listen to it. If you don't want to read it or if you don't have the time. Why do you think I have no interest in this book? I read it.

I will say this. But it's curious to me, part of what I found inspiring about your story is a place like Finland that allows early access to the political field. world. The fact that you could be active, you were clearly somebody who was very into politics and working on a local level, but you got national quick. I know some of that has to do with the size of Finland, but also there's a space where you could have your voice heard. And to me, that is an optimistic tale in a place where we all see sorts of older folks running the rules here in America. I see access at that age being very important. And yet, hearing at the end

that you're out of politics, hearing what the media did to these stories in a way. that didn't make it a space that you felt necessitated you staying in that fight. I almost don't know how to read whether this is an optimistic book about getting into politics early or it's a cautionary tale about what we do to young people when they're in that field. Well, I hope it's an optimistic book. The title is Hope in Action. Oh, shit, you're right. So, of course, I want to tell people that there's always hope if there's action.

And I want to say to people that please join political parties, run for office, vote, participate. We need your voices, and we need different people from different backgrounds to participate in our democracies or otherwise our democracies will die. So we need young people, and we need women, we need people for minorities, but we need people. We need people and we need action and we need hope and we need action. We need it all. Thank you very much for joining me. The book, Hope and Action, is a very much. Now, sign of Array.

Let me take a quick breath, right back back to this. Thank you so much. That's our show for tonight. Now here it is. Your moment is end. Now, according to the latest Merris poll and Fox News poll, Mandami has about a 16-point lead over Cuomo among likely voters around 48% to 32% taking a live look at one of the polling places in New York.

is in New York this morning actually that looks like a press conference not what we're looking for there explore more shows from the Daily Show podcast universe by searching the Daily Show wherever you get your podcasts watch the Daily Show weeknights at 11 10 Central on Comedy Central

and stream full episodes anytime on Paramount Plus this has been a Comedy Central podcast