The former 2025 NYC mayoral candidate and founder of the Guardian Angels urged the audience to challenge authority.
Sliwa makes his opening remarks at the YPU. (Credit: Emily Akbar)
Campus Reporting Editor, The Buckley Beacon
On Tuesday night, the Yale Political Union hosted Curtis Sliwa, founder of the Guardian Angels and the recent Republican nominee for the New York City Mayoral Election. Sliwa argued in favor of the resolution “Act Before the State.”
Known for his iconic red beret, Sliwa’s look originates from the uniform of the Guardian Angels— a nonprofit organization he founded in 1979 that consists of volunteers dedicated to crime prevention. In recent years, Sliwa was a radio show host on WABC-AM, a NYC-based radio station. In the 2025 NYC mayoral race, Sliwa received endorsements from all five of NYC’s Republican county parties, but notably failed to receive Republican President Donald Trump’s.
His platform promised increased public safety and policing, aiming to hire 7,000 police officers and deploy 500 undercover officers in subways. He also aimed to repeal former Mayor Eric Adams’ “City of Yes,” zoning plan, characterizing the policy as one that favored wealthy developers rather than addressing affordability problems in neighborhoods.
Much of Sliwa’s appeal comes from his electric persona, which was showcased on Tuesday night. Sliwa went viral after last year’s mayoral debates, where he unapologetically quipped at Independent opponent Andrew Cuomo’s past failures as governor of New York State with punchy lines. Internet users started to caricaturize Sliwa’s red beret and repost his comments on various social media platforms.
As soon as Sliwa entered the Sheffield-Sterling-Strathcona lecture hall, he was greeted with a roar of approving stomps and applause from the entire audience, spanning the left and right coalitions. Notably, members of the Progressive Party sported green berets in apparent honor of Sliwa’s own.
In his opening remarks, Sliwa introduced his general distrust of politicians and wariness of corruption that pervades politics. He established his populist distaste of billionaires and big industries supposedly influencing elections and undermining the power of democracy. “One person, one vote, and I will settle on whoever it is the people choose to lead us home,” he proclaimed. “Everybody has the right to be heard. Every idea. Every ideology and their history. We should all have access to knowing what that history is because I trust you, the people. I don’t trust the politicians.”
Sliwa described himself as an “outlier,” neither a typical Republican nor a typical politician. Rather than accept and sponsor every policy the current Republican administration puts out, he is not afraid to scrutinize his fellow Republicans.
“You must always question authority. You must always challenge authority. Even if it runs against the grain of typically what your ideology is,” Sliwa passionately exhorted the audience, who approvingly stomped in response. “That’s the American way.”
Sliwa pointed to Trump’s recent statements regarding a possible invasion of Greenland, saying such an act would be a “lunacy” and necessitates fellow Republicans like himself to speak out. Earlier this month, White House officials claimed that the president and his team were discussing a range of options in acquiring Greenland, which is a semi-autonomous region of Denmark. Sliwa’s criticism rides on a wave of growing Republican opposition to the intent of invasion.
Sliwa also railed against members of Congress who he considered were too old to continue a political career. “What we need desperately is term limits,” he argued. “Some of these senators are going to crack 100 years soon and they will not leave till death do us part!” The average age in the House of Representatives stood at 57.9 years and 63.9 years in the Senate as of August 2025.
Reflecting New York City politicking, Sliwa did not shy away from criticism of the previous administrations. He attacked former mayor Bill de Blasio, suggesting de Blasio was frequently under the influence of marijuana as mayor. Sliwa also criticized New York’s most recent ex-mayor, Eric Adams, for allegedly taking bribes and soliciting illegal campaign contributions. Referencing Adams’ much-maligned cryptocurrency coin, Sliwa declared, “That Bitcoin is nothing more than crime coin.” Sliwa lost the NYC mayoral race to Adams in 2021.
Sliwa threw multiple jabs at who he referred to as the “dystopian” Andrew Cuomo, the former governor of New York State who lost to Zohran Mamdani in the Democratic primary in the most recent election before running as an Independent. Sliwa criticized Cuomo for his sexual harassment scandals as well as the lives lost during the pandemic when he was governor.
Though Sliwa acknowledged his disagreement with Mamdani on political issues, he praised his campaign strategy and focus on affordability. “Zohran was going out and doing major retail politics,” Sliwa explained. “He discovered what was of interest to most people. He found that vain. Affordability. Cost of living.”
Sliwa furthered his frustration in the lack of trust the Republican party had in him to be mayor of NYC. “I was marginalized. Remember, I was the spoiler, even though I was the mainstream candidate of the Republican Party,” Sliwa claimed. He went on to claim that he was offered $10 million to step down during the general election, but did not accept.
After Sliwa’s opening speech, Sumaiya Bangura ‘29 of the Progressive Party, the second speaker in the negative, argued that the debate relied on the assumption that those acting before the state are acting in the best interests of society. She warned of the dangers of setting “acting before the state” as a precedent, which could lead to dangerous outcomes.
“You all gasped when the Klu Klux Klan was mentioned. But they were acting before the government and delivered their idea of good. Their justice was lynchings. Why wait for the court systems to convict a black man when the mob could act before and deliver their justice,” she pointed out.
In Sliwa’s closing remarks, he recalled when he and his Guardian Angels went to Penn station and fed and clothed the homeless and emotionally disturbed. Sliwa also mentioned how he and his wife recovered animals during the pandemic as shelters were closed. From cleaning subways to feeding the homeless to caring for animals, Sliwa stressed the importance of volunteer work as a mechanism for improving society.
In the end, Sliwa expressed his humility by uttering a viral, Gen-Z which was popular on social media during the election last year. “And you better not be glazing me,” he said as the lecture hall roared in laughter.
In the end, Sliwa convinced the crowd. The resolution, “Act Before the State,” passed 82-30.