Political Glance
This brings our live coverage of the final New York mayoral debate to a close.
We will have analysis from our politics team shortly.
Overall, the 90-minute event seemed unlikely to have changed many minds, with the main focus being an extended argument between Zohan Mamdani, the Democratic nominee, and Andrew Cuomo, the former governor he defeated in the primary, now running as an independent.
Cuomo kept hammering the point that his experience should make him the right choice, given his long career in government at the state and federal level, as opposed to Mamdani, the state assemblyman who is almost exactly half his age.
Mamdani, for his part, cast himself as the candidate of change, focused on affordability and trying to reverse a situation in which New York is becoming “a museum of where working-class people used to be able to live”.
Sliwa is an engaging presence on television, but did little to change the perception that he remains more of a quirky cultural figure than a likely government administrator.
New York City mayoral debate: Mamdani, Sliwa and Cuomo trade jabs over Israel, rent and Trump – as it happened
University of Virginia agrees to Trump administration demands over admissions and hiring
The University of Virginia (UVA) has become the latest institution to agree to the Trump administration’s demands concerning discrimination in admissions and hiring following significant pressure from the justice department.
The deal, which the department announced on Wednesday, comes after the president of the esteemed public university resigned in June to resolve a justice department investigation into UVA’s diversity, equity and inclusion policies.
If the president, Jim Ryan, had stayed in the job, he was told “hundreds of employees would lose jobs, researchers would lose funding, and hundreds of students could lose financial aid or have their visas withheld”, according to Mark Warner, a Democratic senator from Virginia.
The deal means the justice department will end its investigation into the school, while the school agreed “not engage in unlawful racial discrimination in its university programming, admissions, hiring or other activities. UVA will provide relevant information and data to the Department of Justice on a quarterly basis through 2028,” the announcement states.
University of Arizona becomes seventh US college to reject Trump’s ‘compact’
The University of Arizona has become the seventh US university to reject a Trump administration proposal that would grant schools funding priority if they agreed to support the administration’s conservative agenda.
The decision follows the administration’s push for nine universities to sign a “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education,” which seeks to make sweeping changes to campus culture, hiring and admissions practices and foreign student enrollment. Demands from the Trump administration’s 10-point compact include reforms to the way race or ethnicity are used in admission and hiring practices, as well as a commitment to strict definitions of gender, among others.
The deadline for universities to provide their initial feedback on the draft of the compact is 20 October.
In a letter to the Department of Education sent Monday, Suresh Garimella, the University of Arizona president, said that “principles like academic freedom, merit-based research funding and institutional independence are foundational and must be preserved”.
“We seek no special treatment and believe in our ability to compete for federally funded research strictly on merit,” Garimella said in the letter.
Trump nominee says MLK Jr. holiday belongs in ‘hell’ and that he has ‘Nazi streak,’ according to texts
Paul Ingrassia, President Donald Trump’s embattled nominee to lead the Office of Special Counsel, told a group of fellow Republicans in a text chain the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday should be “tossed into the seventh circle of hell” and said he has “a Nazi streak,” according to a text chat viewed by POLITICO.
Ingrassia, who has a Senate confirmation hearing scheduled Thursday, made the remarks in a chain with a half-dozen Republican operatives and influencers, according to the chat.
“MLK Jr. was the 1960s George Floyd and his ‘holiday’ should be ended and tossed into the seventh circle of hell where it belongs,” Ingrassia wrote in January 2024, according to the chat.
“Jesus Christ,” one participant responded.Using an Italian slur for Black people, Ingrassia wrote a month earlier in the group chat seen by POLITICO: “No moulignon holidays … From kwanza [sic] to mlk jr day to black history month to Juneteenth,” then added: “Every single one needs to be eviscerated.”
Florida politician faces backlash over calls for mass deportation of Indians
A city councilmember in Florida is facing backlash from national Indian American organizations, members of Congress, and local residents after posting a series of social media messages that insulted Indian people living in the US and called for them to be deported en masse.
Chandler Langevin, a Palm Bay council member elected last year, made derogatory comments about Indian people across several posts on the social media platform X over roughly three weeks this fall. He claimed that Indians come to America to “drain our pockets” before returning to India, “or worse … to stay”.
His remarks have sparked widespread anger. Since 29 September, residents along with regional and national Indian American groups have crowded Palm Bay city council meetings and demanded that he step down.
On Thursday night, the council voted 3-2 to formally censure Langevin. During the meeting, Rob Medina, the mayor who also serves on the council, said: “We’re all overwhelmed by everything. This nation was founded on immigrants … We are all part of the very fabric of the flag, our banner, the United States of America.”
Hindus for Human Rights, a national advocacy organization, released a letter calling the remarks “overtly bigoted, dehumanizing, and dangerous” and urged Republican governor Ron DeSantis to suspend Langevin from his role.
FBI probes hunting stand with sight line on Air Force One in Palm Beach
The FBI is investigating a hunting stand that was found in the sight line of Air Force One on Friday.
FBI Director Kash Patel told NewsNation, The Hill’s sister company, that the Secret Service “discovered what appeared to be an elevated hunting stand within sight line of the Air Force One landing zone” prior to President Trump arriving at Palm Beach International Airport.
No individuals were located at the scene. The FBI has since taken the investigatory lead, flying in resources to collect all evidence from the scene, and deploying our cellphone analytics capabilities,” Patel added.
When reached for comment, Anthony Guglielmi, chief of communications at the Secret Service, said the agency “is working closely with the FBI and our law enforcement partners in Palm Beach County.” He also confirmed that the FBI is leading the investigation.
“During advance security preparations prior to the Palm Beach arrival, which included the use of technology and comprehensive physical sweeps, our teams identified items of interest near Palm Beach International Airport,” Guglielmi added. “There was no impact to any movements, and no individuals were present or involved at the location.”
These voters want to overturn Missouri's new gerrymandered congressional map
Lately, on any given day, you'll find Leann Villaluz knocking on doors around Kansas City to get people to sign a petition that would let voters decide the fate of the state's new congressional map.
"There's a sense of resentment, even to regular voters who aren't as involved," Villaluz says. "We have to pick up the slack for representatives who have been elected to do their simple duty and carry out the will of the voters. Instead, they think that we don't know what's best for ourselves."
Missouri is the second state in the country, alongside Texas, to gerrymander its congressional map after President Donald Trump set off a nationwide redistricting battle in July to try to maintain control of the U.S. House in the 2026 midterms.
Multiple other states, including North Carolina, Indiana, Florida, Ohio and Kansas could soon follow. California is trying to counter the Republican effort by redistricting in favor of Democrats, if voters pass a constitutional amendment next month.
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