When Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani won the Democratic primary for New York City mayor in June, Republicans and some old school Democrats were positively apoplectic.
An immigrant Muslim of Gujarati and Punjabi Indian parents who has lived in NYC since he was 7 years old, the 34-year-old New York State Assembly member was the stuff of nightmares for the MAGAsphere. Mamdani was a non-White, non-Christian, Uganda-born immigrant and progressive Democrat.
Despite all the fear-mongering during the lead up to election day, Mamdani handily defeated not just the Republican candidate, embattled Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa.
The progressive candidate also beat the old school Democrat on the ballot, disgraced former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo—whose cronyism, ethics scandals, nepotism, and history of sexual misconduct match that of many Republicans, fueling independent voters “both parties are the same claims.”
Once the election was called in Mamdani’s favor, conservative media leapt to declare it a victory for themselves. Fox News claimed Mamdani as NYC mayor would boost MAGA Republican opportunist Representative Elise Stefanik’s planned gubernatorial run in 2026.
Stefanik went from a staunch critic of MAGA Republican President Donald Trump to a MAGA lackey overnight when political advancement was available to her. Stefanik replaced former Wyoming GOP Representative Liz Cheney as chair of the House Republican Conference after the latter ran afoul of Trump.
In addition to claiming victory on a night of Republican and conservative losses—Maine voters handily defeated GOP-sponsored voting restrictions and approved a gun control measure—Fox News continued their freak out over Mamdani.
Longtime Fox host Sean Hannity claimed:
“I have friends of mine in New York. My phone is blowing up. They are officially depressed and scared.”
You can watch the segment here:
Hannity’s comment came after Bret Baier said:
“[Elise Stefanik], tonight, is probably much more well-positioned than she was yesterday because of the situation.”
Hannity countered:
“I don’t know, Bret, if I quite agree with that analysis in this sense. And I honestly feel bad…”
Referring to a pre-election Fox News poll, Hannity added:
“A full nine percent of people say that they will leave if he in fact got elected. Before today, they said if he got elected, they are gonna leave New York City.”
When Hannity appeared in a segment with Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, he said:
“I’m literally in tears. I’m having a hard time keeping a straight face.”
The Fox alarmist then claimed it was because of all the hilarious memes his “depressed and scared” friends were sending him about moving to Florida. Hannity himself recently relocated from New York to DeSantis’ domain to be closer to his beloved Dear Leader, Trump.
Hannity and his NYC “friends” got little sympathy online.
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Mamdani, New York City’s first Muslim and first Asian American mayor, will likely be sworn in on January 1, 2026, just after the New Year’s ball drop, as is customary for the city’s mayors.
On Wednesday, Mamdani told community members:
“In the coming months, I and my team will build a city hall capable of delivering on the promises of this campaign. We will form an administration that is equal parts capable and compassionate, driven by integrity, and willing to work just as hard as the millions of New Yorkers who call this city home.”
The NYC mayor-elect added:
“Throughout this campaign, I have worked hard to be accessible and transparent with New Yorkers. That same spirit will animate this transition, and the city hall we built, because New Yorkers deserve a government that they can trust.”
“We owe it to this city to be ready on 1 January to start delivering. We have 57 days and those are 57 days to start to do the work of preparing.”
Mamdani named five women to run his transition team: senior campaign adviser Elana Leopold as executive director; co-chair Maria Torres-Springer, former first deputy mayor; co-chair Lina Khan, former federal trade commission chair under Democratic President Joe Biden; United Way president and CEO, Grace Bonilla; and former deputy mayor for health and human services Melanie Hartzog.
