During his victory speech after winning the New York City mayoral election, Zohran Mamdani didn’t shy away from addressing former President Donald Trump directly.
At just 34 years old, Mamdani's win is considered historic — he becomes the youngest mayor of New York City in a century, and the first South Asian and Muslim to hold the office.
According to the BBC, Mamdani secured 50.4% of the vote, defeating his closest rivals Andrew Cuomo, who received 41.6%, and Curtis Sliwa, who garnered 7%.
A self-identified democratic socialist, Mamdani has campaigned on ambitious proposals, including imposing higher taxes on the city’s wealthiest residents, introducing universal childcare, and making city buses "fast and free" (via CNN).
Before Election Day, Trump made his preferences clear. Appearing on 60 Minutes, he urged New Yorkers to back Cuomo, saying: "Whether you personally like Andrew Cuomo or not, you really have no choice. You must vote for him, and hope he does a fantastic job. He is capable of it, Mamdani is not!" Trump also hinted that federal funding for New York could be in jeopardy if Mamdani were elected.
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But on Tuesday, November 4, Mamdani stood firm in his victory address, declaring that New York had “spoken in a clear voice” and that “hope is alive.”
Identifying himself as “young,” “Muslim,” and a “democratic socialist,” he stated: “And most damning of all, I refuse to apologize for any of this.”
Then came his message to Trump: “If anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him. This is not only how we stop Trump. It’s how we stop the next one. So Donald Trump, since I know you’re watching, I have four words for you: ‘Turn the volume up’.”
Mamdani also pledged to take on the powerful elite, saying New Yorkers “can respond to oligarchy and authoritarianism with the strength it fears, not the appeasement it craves.”
He continued: “We will hold bad landlords to account because the Donald Trumps of our city have grown far too comfortable taking advantage of their tenants. We will put an end to the culture of corruption that has allowed billionaires like Trump to evade taxation and exploit tax breaks.”
“We will stand alongside unions and expand labor protections because we know, just as Donald Trump does, that when working people have ironclad rights, the bosses who seek to extort them become very small indeed.”
Mamdani closed with a powerful message of unity and resilience: “New York will remain a city of immigrants, a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants and as of tonight, led by an immigrant. So hear me, President Trump when I say this: to get to any of us, you will have to get through all of us.”
Shortly after the election, Trump reacted on Truth Social with a short and pointed message: “…AND SO IT BEGINS!”
Zohran Mamdani is set to be sworn in on January 1st.
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