New York City‘s Fire Department Commissioner has broken his silence on his decision to resign after Zohran Mamdani’s election win.
Robert Tucker, who is Jewish, will step down from his position with the city’s fire department on December 19.
His resignation came hours after Democratic Socialist Mamdani, who is anti-Israel, defeated Republican Curtis Sliwa and former state governor Andrew Cuomo.
In his first interview since stepping down, Tucker explained that his resignation was an emotional decision.
‘Look, it’s a complicated, emotional decision to leave. But ideologically, there’s no doubt that the mayor and I disagree on some very fundamental things to me,’ Tucker told CBS Mornings.
‘I think it’s a factor [in my decision to resign], no doubt,’ he said. ‘And I don’t want to tell you that it’s the only factor. But I believe that the things that I have heard the mayor say would make it difficult for me to continue on in such a senior executive role in the administration.’
Tucker said that Mamdani, who once called to defund the New York Police Department, has a lot of work to do to win the trust of first responders.
‘More importantly than hearing it, we want to see it,’ he said, adding that he felt Mamdani should have condemned a protest at an Upper East Side synagogue last week faster.
New York City’s Fire Department Commissioner Robert Tucker broke his science on his decision to resign
Tucker’s resignation came hours after Democratic Socialist Mamdani won the race for New York City mayor
‘You know, I don’t know that the public has heard appropriately from him,’ he said.
While the city’s current police commissioner, Jessica Tisch, has agreed to remain in the post, Tucker said the mayor-elect has not reached out to the FDNY.
‘I haven’t had any personal conversations with the mayor-elect. I haven’t heard from anyone in his incoming administration, nor has the department,’ he said.
‘And so I only hope that is not an indicator of their feelings about the FDNY. I’d like to think they think everything is going so well here that they don’t need to transition so fast.’
After the mayor-elect met with Donald Trump last week, the president decided to pause sending the National Guard to the Big Apple.
When asked if he still wanted to go forward with his plan by MS NOW reporter Akalya Gardner, Trump said he would do so only if needed, but right now, his home city isn’t at the top of his list.
‘If they need it. Right now, other places need it more, but if they need it,’ he replied before gushing about his meeting with Mamdani.
In his first interview since stepping down, Tucker explained that his resignation was an emotional decision
After Mamdani met with Donald Trump last week, the president said he would hold off on sending the National Guard to New York City
‘We had a very good meeting yesterday. We talked about that, but if they need it, I would do it.’
This is a drastic difference from just months back when Trump insisted on sending troops into New York City following his promise to clean up Chicago, Illinois with the same strategy.
The commander-in-chief’s comments come just a day after the pair put on a display of admiration when the self-described Democratic socialist visited the White House.
During the meeting, the two political rivals seemingly put their differences aside in an extraordinary concession.
A telling moment during their interaction was when a reporter asked Mamdani about his previous comments calling the president a ‘fascist.’
In response, Trump said: ‘You can call me it,’ indicating perhaps the extent to which the young politician impressed him during their discussion.