It has been a while since a prominent American mayor got so far outside his proverbial lane.
In fact, to find a comparable example, we might have to return to the early days of the Civil War. More on that in a moment.
Sunday on the social media platform X, Milwaukee Bucks forward Kyle Kuzma blasted Democratic Mayor Zohran Mamdani of New York City for “cosplaying” as president despite lacking “the authority, the talent, or the track record.”
“This is 2026. People cosplaying as things they don’t have the authority, the talent, or the track record to actually be. Just for content,” Kuzma wrote.
“A mayor playing president. A founder playing operator. A content creator playing one-on-one thinking he’s a pro. A 25yr old with a ring light playing economist. Everyone auditioning. Nobody building,” he added.
Kuzma offered those observations in response to a specific action by Mamdani.
Last week, the New York mayor posted a roughly two-minute video condemning Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a war criminal, calling for Netanyahu’s arrest, and declaring him unwelcome in New York City.
Do you agree — is Mamdani a glorified leftist influencer posing as a presidential wannabe?
Mamdani called Netanyahu “the architect of a horrific genocide against the Palestinian people.”
“There is a reason the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for his arrest,” the mayor added later in the clip.
Mamdani did acknowledge, however, that as mayor he lacks the authority to arrest Netanyahu. So he called on the federal government to do it instead.
No doubt Kuzma objected to the solemn tone of Mamdani’s address, the American flag in the background, the hands clasped, elbows resting on his desk, almost as if he were speaking to Americans from the Oval Office.
“Were raising a generation that learning the reward isn’t in doing the thing it’s in looking like you did the thing. The clip is the career. The pose is the product. The soundbite is the substitute for a life’s work. Don’t fall for distractions,” the NBA veteran added.
This is 2026. People cosplaying as things they don’t have the authority, the talent, or the track record to actually be. Just for content.
A mayor playing president. A founder playing operator. A content creator playing one-on-one thinking he’s a pro. A 25yr old with a ring… https://t.co/e4aM17CzSC
— kuz (@kylekuzma) July 26, 2026
Kuzma has played nine seasons in the NBA, establishing himself as a consistent scorer and rebounder. His career began with the Los Angeles Lakers, with whom he won an NBA championship in 2020. From there, he moved on to the Washington Wizards for four seasons before finally landing with the Bucks in 2024.
In May, Kuzma appeared in a Facebook video that showed him celebrating at a Jewish wedding with Israeli NBA star Deni Avdija of the Portland Trail Blazers. Kuzma and Avdija were teammates for three seasons on the Wizards.
Mamdani has meanwhile enjoyed a string of political successes. Last month, for instance, he endorsed three socialist candidates who then proceeded to defeat establishment Democrats in the party’s U.S. House primaries for New York.
Notwithstanding his rising influence among Democrats, Mamdani remains a mayor only.
In fact, before he gets too far over his skis, as they say, he might want to take a lesson from one of his predecessors, a long-forgotten 19th-century Democrat who also had some terrible ideas about things that did not concern municipal government.
On Jan. 6, 1861, Democratic Mayor Fernando Wood of New York City delivered an address to the Common Council.
More than two weeks had passed since South Carolina seceded from the Union. Modern New Yorkers do not care to remember this, but New York City and South Carolina had strong social, economic, and political ties from the Colonial Era to the Civil War. Thus, Wood thought New York City should follow South Carolina’s lead and withdraw from the Union.
But the New York mayor went further. A pro-slavery fanatic like most Democrats in his day, Wood recommended secession based on his fine-sounding analysis of national affairs.
“California and her sisters of the Pacific will no doubt set up an independent Republic and husband their own rich mineral resources. The Western States, equally rich in cereals and other agricultural products, will probably do the same. Then it may be said, why should not New York city, instead of supporting by her contributions in revenue two-thirds of the expenses of the United States, become also equally independent?” he said.
Of course, none of those things happened. California and the Western states remained loyal to the Union, as did New York.
In other words, Wood was wrong, and today he is remembered, if at all, only by historians.
Mamdani, too, might one day suffer the same fate.
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