Cynthia Nixon gave her first television interview as a New York gubernatorial candidate to none other than Wendy Williams on Tuesday (the episode aired Wednesday morning), and it was an expectedly uproarious and high-energy affair.
Nixon’s decision to appear on the show first may have confused many at first, but it’s a thoughtful, inspired choice. Though she hails from and currently resides in New Jersey, Wendy Williams—with or without her frequent bad, offensive takes—is a New York City institution, who built her career as a local radio superstar before taking her brand to television in 2008. Her shows attracts a huge audience of young women—many of whom are women of color.
It’s also an audience is known for its constant applause, frequent gasping, and talk-backs (the Hot Topics segment, during which Williams gabs about all the latest celebrity gossip, practically begs for such participation), but when that sort of response is given to a political candidate, the show suddenly feels less like a talk show and more like a better-dressed State of the Union.
During their chat, Williams and Nixon spoke about Sex and the City (unavoidable), her love for New York (“Never lived anywhere else, wouldn’t wanna live anywhere else”), gun control (Nixon thinks New York’s already “good” laws should get even tougher), the need for women to get involved in politics, fixing the subways, “better and more equal funding” of public schools, Black Lives Matter, legalizing marijuana (“let’s capture some of that revenue”), and the importance of black women, whom she calls “the backbone of the Democratic party.” She even managed to throw in a very satisfying Cuomo dig.
And, as you can see in the video above, Wendy’s audience loved every minute of it. Jesus Christ, Miranda’s gonna be my governor.