With two weeks left until Election Day, Cuomo is scheduled to moderate a town hall Thursday with Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), Donald Trump’s running mate. Cuomo compared Harris to former President Barack Obama.

“Kamala Harris is not a godsend, alright? You people didn’t even like her six months ago! Now, all of the sudden, she’s black female Jesus the way Obama was Black Jesus,” Cuomo said. “And let me tell you something: he had a lot more going for him than Kamala Harris does, and not just as firsts go, but his type of campaigning, his type of persuasion, his charisma. He was imbued with things that she is not. And I don’t mean that as a criticism. It’s just a point of comparison.”

Cuomo lamented the “process” by which Harris joined the race. When President Joe Biden announced he would not be running for reelection in July, Harris took his place following all the state primary elections. The Democratic National Committee named her its nominee in August.

“But look, this idea of, ‘Don’t say anything bad about her because Trump,’ I don’t buy that. I don’t buy that, and it’s not how you get to a better place. It’s a relative assessment. She has negatives. So does he. Does he have more? Yeah. He also has a way more intense following,” Cuomo said. “That’s why this race is so tight. Now explain that to me. Unless you want to write off half this country as bigots, how do you explain it being so tight? Maybe you’re not as right about everything as you think you are. Maybe you should be a little bit more open to the people that you disagree with. Maybe they’re not all racists.”

A RealClearPolitics poll average from Tuesday afternoon showed Harris has a slight 0.8-point lead.

Cuomo’s town hall with Vance will air on NewsNation and simultaneously livestream on X at 8 p.m. Thursday. It remains to be seen if Harris’ running mate, Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN), will also appear on the network. He was invited to participate in a ‘similar’ event.