Posted on 11/05/2025 11:59:27 AM PST by Signalman
CNN analyst Van Jones sounded off after New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s fiery victory speech, suggesting the far-left Democrat may have alienated the same voters who helped him win.
At just 34, Mamdani became the first Muslim, first South Asian, and first democratic socialist elected mayor of New York City. His campaign centered on grassroots organizing, affordable housing, and public transit — all themes that drew strong support from young and working-class New Yorkers.
“I think he missed an opportunity,” Jones said during CNN’s post-election coverage. “The Mamdani that we saw on 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.”
Jones, typically seen as sympathetic to progressive causes, described Mamdani’s tone as “sharp” and even “almost yelling.” “That’s not the Mamdani that we’ve seen on TikTok and in great interviews,” he said. “It felt like a character switch… the warm, open, embracing guy that’s close to working people was not on stage tonight.”
But the tone of his victory remarks surprised even allies. “There was some other voice on stage,” Jones said. “He’s very young, and he just pulled off something very, very difficult. I wouldn’t write him off, but I think he missed an opportunity to open himself up tonight — and that will probably cost him going forward.”
Mamdani’s speech itself drew immediate attention. “Since I know you’re watching… turn the volume up,” he said to President Trump — a line that went viral across social media. He declared his win a victory for “working people, immigrants, and dreamers,” while promising rent freezes, free bus service, and universal childcare.
Jones’ reaction mirrored that unease. “There are a lot of people trying to figure out, ‘Can I get on this train with him or not?’” he said. “Is he going to include me, or is he going to be more of a class warrior, even in office?”
Mamdani’s win capped a stunning rise that began with his June primary upset over former Governor Andrew Cuomo, followed by a general-election victory over both Cuomo — who continued as an independent — and Republican Curtis Sliwa. With just over 50 percent of the vote, Mamdani’s campaign rewrote the city’s political map, energizing younger voters across Queens, Brooklyn, and the Bronx.
Yet as Van Jones noted, the challenges of leading a city of nine million will demand a broader coalition than the one that carried him to office. His populist message about “taking back New York from the powerful” resonated deeply on the campaign trail, but governing will require partnerships with unions, law enforcement, and business leaders who may not share his worldview.
“He’s got the passion,” Jones said. “But you also need presence — that ability to pull people in rather than push them away. That’s the Mamdani people fell in love with on the campaign trail. That’s the one he needs to bring back.”
The coming months will show whether Mamdani can translate his activist energy into leadership that unites a diverse and skeptical city — or whether, as Jones hinted, his first impression as mayor will be remembered more for rage than reach.
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Hey Van! Are you delusional or something? What did you think was going to happen? He is a lying Democrat/Socialist/Communist. You are apparently clueless. Stupid hurts, does it not?
Nope. Blue states, blue wins.
Time to remind people of the fable:
The scorpion and the frog.
If he loses CNN before even getting out of the starting gate, he’s going to be that very serious disappointment.
When people realize they’re not gonna get all their free stuff and all the money, going to Soci programs are gonna go to radical islamists.. THEY STILL will vote Democrat.
Maybe Soros and his son will lit the match!!!!
lot of democrats realizing how bad mamdami is gonna make the whole party look
If this 9-11 fan were honest: “We support hardworking people who play by the rules working even harder to support our people who do not work hard or play by the rules.”
Yes, but NYC ramped it up this time. Let’s see how that works out for them. 😎
He ‘won’ thru rank choice which steals votes meant for others. He hardly has a mandate plus the other politicians are looking out for themselves and do not want to lose their jobs when Mamdani goes full communist so will block many of his proposals.
BTW thanks Curtis, you helped elect Mamdani.
Neither democrat Coumo and Mamdani should be in office and now Curtis can go back to his studio apt to his dozen cats and I believe he gets to keep unspent campaign money for himself.
We imported his voters.
Sounds like they couldn’t figure out his entire campaign was a lie.
Who cares? Cuomo would have overseen only a slightly slower collapse.
Mo Mamdani took an axe and gave the unions 40 whacks. When he saw what he had done, he gave the voters 41. That’s our MoMo.
“GOP voters, by and large, can’t be bothered to amp up for every election.”
NYC has 6.5 million voters (thereabouts) but only approx 2 million showed up to vote this election. In the last four mayoral elections, fewer than a third of registered voters could be bothered to vote.
Where in my post did I allude to that?
Mandy sounded a lot like Adolf.
Sorry, that was to nwrep.
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