Zohran Mamdani didn’t waste a single second after being declared the victor in New York City’s mayoral race before ditching his calm campaign persona and unleashing a rage-filled victory speech that even CNN couldn’t spin.
Even Van Jones—Obama’s former advisor and resident left-wing apologist—was left shaking his head. “I think he missed an opportunity,” Jones told a stunned post-election panel. “The Mamdani that we saw in the campaign trail, who was a lot more calm, who was a lot warmer, who was a lot more embracing, was not present in that speech.”
Translation: the second this guy got power, he dropped the nice-guy act and turned into a full-blown ideologue on a mission. Is it too early to say, “Told you so?” Asking for a friend.
Jones went further, calling out Mamdani’s “sharp” tone and borderline yelling. “It was a little bit of a character switch,” he added, noting how the “warm, open, embracing guy” suddenly vanished like a magic trick nobody asked for.
And what was Mamdani yelling about? Oh, nothing much—just declaring a so-called “mandate for change,” mocking President Trump, and bragging that he refuses to apologize for being a Muslim, a socialist, or a guy with zero plans to tone it down.
Let’s not forget, this is the same guy who beat out Andrew Cuomo who ran as an independent trying to revive the family brand. Mamdani scraped in with just over 50% of the vote, which hardly screams “mandate,” but hey, why let math ruin a revolution?
Van Jones is right about one thing: Everyone saw the bait-and-switch after immediately winning power. Character does not lie. And if this is how he acts on day one, imagine what’s coming next.