The Mamdani magic

The face of a new political generation ruins the GOP playbook

Zohran Mamdani is a quintessential New Yorker. His outdoor swearing-in ceremony on a frigid New Year's Day was a joyous celebration of the diversity of America's largest city. It was also an object lesson in the folly of underestimating a political opponent.

The trolls on social media were as unwilling to let go of their failed demonization of him as the New York Post, which made a big deal of the fact that the charismatic young mayor took his oath of office on the holy book of his faith, just because it isn't theirs. Israel chimed in with a predictable insult.

In comments below other people's Facebook posts, haters predicted doom for the city. Regarding Sen. Bernie Sanders administering the oath of office, one troll wrote, "He must have forgotten 9/11."

There they go with the group blame. Never mind that Mamdani was 10 years old on 9/11. The radical right cannot resist treating the world's 2 billion Muslims as if they are all terrorists. Never mind that the greatest threat of domestic terrorism in the U.S. is from white supremacists like Dylann Roof, who sought to ignite a race war when he murdered pastor and state senator Clementa Pinckney of Mother Emanuel AME Church and eight members of his congregation at a Bible study in Charleston in 2015.

"Othering" people may work for supremacists eager to start a civil war, but it may look different to people trying to make ends meet who notice that workers they depend on are starting to disappear.

If it's any comfort to my Muslim friends, the Trump administration is taking an expansive view of terrorism. At this point, essentially anyone who disagrees with Glorious Leader is deemed a terrorist. The fact that this trivializes a grave matter in service of a partisan power grab, and that targeted groups like transgender people face increased danger of hate crimes, doesn't trouble the administration.

How remarkable, then, that a smart, handsome democratic socialist ruined Republican midterm plans by charming Trump during a post-election visit to the Oval Office. One flash of Mamdani's smile, coupled with his impressive electoral victory, and Trump displayed a crush he normally reserves for dictators.

So as we look ahead to the midterms, what can the rest of us do who lack the new mayor's gifts? One thing we can try is to emulate his message discipline. He had an appealing message and never let the media get him off track. His platform page had the following heading: "New York is too expensive. Zohran will lower costs and make life easier."

Contrary to opponents' claims, his economic appeal did not make the democratic socialist a communist. It is true that New York City is more liberal than many other parts of the country. But at a time when voters are souring on Trump, trying to scare them about a man who understands their concerns better than their president is looking less and less like a brilliant move.

The word "adhocracy" has been used to describe Trump's habit of making things up as he goes. But this can be disastrous when applied to fields like science, engineering and public health that require a more careful methodology. Another problem with Trump's ad hoc approach is that industry thrives on stability, which is undermined when he changes his mind on tariffs from day to day according to his latest whim.

Speaking of Trumpian recklessness, I bet Mamdani is happy he's mayor of New York and not Caracas.

We'll have to save violent regime change and its consequences for another discussion; but Mamdani's priorities are looking a good deal less radical in contrast to President Peace Prize and his ongoing search for new places to bomb.

Trump's base, however belatedly, is beginning to splinter. On the day after Christmas, Reason magazine ran a headline, "Justice Department Says Filming Immigration Raids Is 'Domestic Terrorism.'" Reason is a Libertarian magazine, not an organ of the far left. When ICE Police wrestle a grandmother to the ground for pointing her phone camera at them, it starts dawning on more people that this was not exactly what they had in mind.

Mamdani's focus on what we have in common is the antidote to Trump's politics of division. His emphasis on checkbook issues resonates better than Trump's insistence that their affordability concerns are a Democratic hoax.

Gaslighting, it turns out, has its limits. How unfortunate for the gaslighters that their scary Muslim turned out to be the nice boy next door.

Richard Rosendall is a writer and activist who can be reached at [email protected].

Copyright © 2026 by Richard J. Rosendall. All rights reserved.