New Yorkers on Tuesday elected young leftist Zoran Mamdani as their next mayor, giving Democrats wins in two key gubernatorial races as U.S. voters gave President Donald Trump an early warning ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. Here’s what he said in his first public speech after the victory:
New Yorkers on Tuesday elected young leftist Zoran Mamdani as their next mayor, giving Democrats wins in two key gubernatorial races as U.S. voters gave President Donald Trump an early warning ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. Here’s what he said in his first speech after winning: New York voters conveyed a “commission for change” and a “commission for a new kind of politics,” Mamdani said. “My friends, we have overthrown a political dynasty. In my personal life, I wish Andrew Cuomo nothing but the best, but let tonight be the last time I utter his name as we turn the page on a politics that gives up the many and answers to the few,” he said. “Thank you to a new generation of New Yorkers. We will fight for you, because we are you. New York City is breathing in this moment. We have been holding our breath for too long.” “New York will always be a city of immigrants. Built by immigrants, powered by immigrants, and starting tonight, a city led by immigrants. Here we believe in standing up for the people we love. Whether you’re an immigrant or a member of the trans community. “And whether you’re one of the many Black women Donald Trump has fired from federal jobs, a single mother still waiting for grocery prices to go down, or any other person protesting, Wall, your fight is our fight,” he said. “To Mom and Baba, I am so proud to be your son.” “If there is anyone who can teach a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that produced him,” Mamdani said. “I’m young and I’m a Muslim, and I’m not going to apologize for being a Muslim.” “New York will no longer be a city where people can traffic in Islamophobia to win elections,” Mamdani said, quoting former Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. “There are rare moments in history when you step out of the old and into the new, when an era ends and the soul of a long-oppressed nation speaks.” New York will be a light “in this moment of political darkness,” he said. “We will work tirelessly to make the light shine again. Safety and justice go hand in hand.”
MNA