stock here: Do I need to say more than “Zohran”?
- Speaker says he predicted early (late 2024) that Zoran Mandani could be a highly effective NYC mayoral candidate.
- Credits Mandani’s rise to on-the-ground outreach in working-class, multi-racial NYC neighborhoods that swung toward Trump, asking voters simply “why?” and shaping his platform around their answers.
- Voters’ main themes (per speaker): opposition to foreign war spending (Ukraine/Israel), resentment over resources going to undocumented immigrants, and—above all—anger that Democrats haven’t improved working-class affordability (inflation/rent).
- Mandani centered his campaign on “affordability” and, running city-wide, felt free to keep his criticisms of Israel—gaining credibility as a listener rather than an anti-Trump scold.
- Recent shift: speaker claims Mandani is now retreating/apologizing, cutting deals, and being guided by Democratic operatives (AOC/Bernie orbit and Obama/Clinton-world), easing real-estate fears.
- Despite the speaker’s diminished enthusiasm (expects Mandani to govern as a standard Democrat who accommodates power centers), he condemns the “hysterical” discourse around Mandani.
Attacks the speaker highlights (and rejects):
- Tweet using 9/11 imagery implying Mandani is a jihadist threat.
- Andrew Cuomo suggesting Mandani would “cheer” another 9/11.
- Elise Stefanik alleging Mandani called for genocide of Jews and labeling him a “full-blown jihadist”—speaker calls this fabricated.
- Ted Cruz describing Mandani as an “America-hating jihadist” and urging voters toward Cuomo.
Speaker’s broader thesis:
- A growing U.S. generational skepticism of Israel makes “pro-Israel” persuasion harder; Plan B (per speaker) is stoking generalized anti-Muslim fear to unify the right and distract from U.S. support for Israel.
- Mandani is portrayed as a DSA-style leftist, not a religious extremist (notes LGBT-friendly events; wife’s modern lifestyle) and thus ill-fit for “jihadist” smears.
- Legitimate debates should target Mandani’s left-economic ideas (e.g., public groceries, free buses, rent controls), not Islamophobic fear-mongering.
- Establishment preference for Cuomo stems from his being a safe, pro-Israel, status-quo figure.
- Core fear of Mandani’s critics (per speaker): normalizing an outspoken Israel critic as mayor of the largest U.S. city; hence extreme rhetoric (even talk of stripping citizenship).
Meta:
- Brief ad read for Rocket Money.
- Plug for the speaker’s “System Update” show on Rumble/podcast platforms.