CNN lefty Van Jones is among those raising alarm about Zohran Mamdani's "instant character switch" after winning the New York City mayoral race, as evidenced by his angry victory speech Tuesday night.
“New York, tonight you have delivered a mandate for change, a mandate for a new kind of politics, a mandate for a city that we can afford and a mandate for a government that delivers exactly that,” he started out.
He quickly devolved into taunting President Donald Trump and claiming to have accomplished something momentous, rather than being yet another "Democrat" (or at least posing as one) to win a race in the most liberal city in America.
“So Donald Trump, since I know you’re watching, I have four words for you: Turn the volume up,” Mamdani said.
“My friends, we have toppled a political dynasty,” he continued.
Van Jones said of the speech, “I think he missed an opportunity. I think 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."
“I think his tone was sharp. I think he was using the microphone in a way that he was almost yelling. That’s not the Mamdani that we’ve seen on Tiktok and the great interviews and stuff like that," he went on. “I felt like it was a little bit of a character switch here."
Mamdani will be NYC's first Muslim, first South Asian and first socialist mayor--all at the young age of 34.
He actually carried 50.4% of the vote, so even if all of Republican Curtis Sliwa's votes had gone to independent challenger Andrew Cuomo, it would not have been enough.
“I wish Andrew Cuomo only the best in his private life but that [will be] the final time I utter his name," Mamdani said.
Over 2 million New Yorkers voted in the election, the highest turnout since 1969.
Trump has threatened to withhold funds from New York if Mamdani won the election, saying that it would be a "waste" of money because socialism would fail.
"…AND SO IT BEGINS!” Trump posted on Truth Social as the speech went on.
The Trump Organization still does a lot of business in New York City, so it remains to be seen what will happen with Trump Tower and other buildings there.
He long ago moved his base of operations to Florida where the weather is better and taxes much lower.
The city already taxes business owners onerously for every single day they do business there, and a reported $100 million-plus in real estate is in the process of moving out as people grow fearful of Mamdani's policies.
