Why is Zohran Mamdani so popular in New York?

Charlotte, why don't you start by. telling us about Zoran Rami, a man who I. have to confess just a few months ago I. had never heard of. >> He's a democratic socialist. Uh he is a. really skilled politician. I mean he. comes out uh smiling all the time. He. presents this very positive vision for. New York and I think it's worth before. we go into his policies just laying the. context. his main opponents in this race. for mayor were people who were um to use. the technical term horrible, absolutely.

horrible candidates. So, you had Eric. Adams, who's the current mayor of New. York, who has been the subject of of an. alleged corruption scandal. You have. Andrew Cuomo, the former governor, aging. former governor, who just hasn't gotten. the memo that his political career is. over and clinging on to the limelight. And you have a New York uh population. that's deeply fed up. So, Donald Trump. came to New York City during his uh. presidential election even though he. knew he wasn't going to win New York. City. It was a stage for him and that's. why New York remains important.

politically, too. It's this arena. And. so, he came to Madison Square Garden. I. suffered through his 8-hour long rally. there. He did something in the Bronx and. he won a shocking share. He got 37% of. Queens, which is a deeply blue burrow, and 27% of the Bronx. Astonishing. numbers. And I think that points to New. Yorkers discontent and the desire to try. something new. And that new person is. Mandani. >> I love your polite but utterly. devastating critiques of uh for the. current mayor of New York and other. contenders. It reminds me of the. fantastic line in your cover leader this.

week where you spoke very positively. about Michael Bloomberg as the last good. mayor the city had, but you said he has. the charisma of a spreadsheet. Tell me. what a democratic socialist actually is, John. Well, the Democratic Socialists of. America are a very small group. Zora. Mandani is one of their number. Alexandria Okaziocortez is another. They. until pretty recently had a platform. that was really out there. You know, they wanted to defund the police, get. rid of the Senate, um, you know, nationalize a lot of industries. In the.

intervening time, in the past couple of. years, they've actually updated their. platform. It's a little more mainstream. now than it was. They've ditched some of. the craziest stuff. But I think what it. is mainly is a signaling device to say, you know, we're fed up with centrist. Democrats. We we don't like Republicans. We're fed up with the same old centrist. Democrats, Chuck Schumer, whoever, and. we really want to change things. So, I. think it's more a kind of expressive uh. thing in a sense than a kind of identity. badge. It's it's a way of being on the. left and being an outsider in some, you.

know, similar way politically to how. Donald Trump was able to come to power. promising a whole bunch of stuff that. people kind of knew he couldn't do. But. the fact that he was so mad and was. proposing such radical things. demonstrated to the electorate that like. he really got it in a way that other. people perhaps didn't.