The day after New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s victory speech last week, the political commentariat appeared untethered from reality. Veteran liberal talking head Van Jones said that Mamdani’s “tone was sharp” and that he was “almost yelling.” Jones described the performance forebodingly as a “character switch.” Far-right ideologue Steve Bannon seemed to agree with Jones. “That’s an angry guy. That was in your face,” Bannon said of Mamdani’s speech.
These were odd mischaracterizations of a speech that, while a bit cheeky at moments, was measured, confident, and hopeful. Even in their dispatches from a separate dimension though, the pundits got a few things right. Jones described pre-character-switch Mamdani as a “warm, open, embracing guy that’s close to working people.” Bannon, meanwhile, portrayed Mamdani as a politician of great significance, saying of him and other democratic socialists, “These are serious people.”
All of that checks out. In fact, the two are inseparable in Mamdani’s case. A large part of what makes him so popular, and therefore so politically threatening, is his exuberant, authentic fondness for ordinary New Yorkers.
There’s an iconic image of Hillary Clinton on the 2016 campaign trail looking out of place and conspicuously uncomfortable in an East Harlem working-class apartment. Zohran Mamdani’s campaign for mayor was the exact opposite of that, all the time. He was at home in every borough and on every block, talking to every type of person with curiosity and enthusiasm. He seemed to earnestly delight in New Yorkers’ company, from bus riders to templegoers to street vendors to rock audiences to baristas to tai chi–practicing grannies. If you live in New York City and you don’t own a predatory business that mistreats workers or an apartment building that’s gouging and mistreating tenants, Zohran probably likes you.
The…
Auteur: Meagan Day
