Former Obama White House aide Van Jones argued Tuesday night that New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani displayed a “character switch” from the campaign trail in his sharply-toned victory speech, during which he took multiple shots at President Donald Trump.
The CNN commentator said, “I think he missed an opportunity. I think the Mamdani that we saw in 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.
“And I think that Mamdani is the one you need to hear from tonight. There are a lot of people trying to figure out, can I get on this train with him or not? Is he going to include me? Is he going — is he — is he going to be more of a class warrior, even in office?” Jones asked.
He contended that Mamdani had an opportunity to bring more people together, but passed on it with his “sharp tone.”
“I think he was using the microphone in a way that he was almost yelling. And that’s not the Mamdani that we’ve seen on Tiktok and the great interviews and stuff like that,” Jones said.
“So, I felt like it was a little bit of a character switch here, where the warm, open, embracing guy that’s close to working people was not on stage tonight. And there was some other voice on stage,” he continued.
CNN’s Van Jones was not a fan of Zohran Mamdani’s angry, far-left, rage-filled victory speech:
“I think he missed an opportunity. I think the Mamdani that we saw in the campaign trail, who was a lot more calm, who was a lot warmer, who was a lot more embracing, was not present… pic.twitter.com/aM2AlcgM1U
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) November 5, 2025
Finally, Jones offered, “That said, he’s very young. And he just pulled off something very, very difficult. And I wouldn’t write him off, but I think he missed an opportunity to open himself up tonight. And I think that that will probably cost him going forward.”
Do you think Zohran Mamdani will be able to enact his socialist agenda on New York City?
Mamdani defeated former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa to become New York City’s 111th mayor.
Mamdani had been favored in polling to win over Cuomo, whom he also bested in June. Cuomo decided to re-enter the race as an independent, and despite closing the margin, was not able to overcome his rival.
The most recent election results from the New York Times showed Mamdani taking just over 50 percent of the vote to Cuomo’s approximately 41 percent, and Republican Curtis Sliwa’s 7 percent.
Mamdani, 34, will make history as New York’s first Muslim mayor and its first avowed socialist leader.
The candidate mentioned Trump nine times by name during his approximately 25-minute-long victory speech.
“If anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him. And if there is any way to terrify a despot, it is by dismantling the very conditions that allowed him to accumulate power,” Mamdani said.
“This is not only how we stop Trump; it’s how we stop the next one. So, Donald Trump, since I know you’re watching, I have four words for you: Turn the volume up!” he added.
New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani: “We can respond to oligarchy and authoritarianism with the strength it fears not the appeasement it craves. After all, if anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him it is the city that gave rise to him…So,… pic.twitter.com/Vt7pmuIGpd
— CSPAN (@cspan) November 5, 2025
Mamdani proclaimed, “New York will remain a city of immigrants: a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants and, as of tonight, led by an immigrant. So hear me, President Trump, when I say this: To get to any of us, you will have to get through all of us.”
NEW: NYC Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani challenges President Trump in his victory speech:
“New York will remain a city of immigrants, a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants. And as of tonight, led by an immigrant.”
“So hear me, President Trump, when I say this: To get… pic.twitter.com/L0tOS5Ddnr
— Fox News (@FoxNews) November 5, 2025
Mamdani’s family legally immigrated to the United States in the 1990s from Uganda when he was seven years old. He became a U.S. citizen in 2018.
The Trump administration has not been removing people who immigrated legally to the country, but rather those who crossed in illegally, and particularly those who have engaged in other crimes since their arrival.
It seems unlikely that Mamdani’s threat will deter the Trump administration in this work, based on the administration’s response to local government resistance in Chicago and Los Angeles.
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