'Americans closer to where Mamdani is' than to veteran politicians who've served for decades

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00:00Let's take a closer look at one of our top stories now.

00:15This is Aperport.

00:20People in New York have just a few hours to choose their next mayor.

00:24Over 1.2 million people have already cast their votes in the hotly contested three-way race

00:29between Democratic Socialist candidate Zoran Mamdani, former Governor Andrew Cuomo,

00:35who's running as an independent, and the Republican candidate Curtis Swila.

00:39Mamdani looks increasingly like the one to beat in these elections.

00:43Votes for him would give the city its first Muslim mayor and its youngest leader in generations.

00:48While U.S. President Donald Trump has been vocal about his opposition to Mamdani,

00:52he's called him a communist.

00:54On Tuesday, the president said any Jewish person who votes for the Democratic candidate

00:59is a stupid person.

01:01Eliza Herbert has more.

01:03The Big Apple is casting a big vote.

01:07And this man, Zoran Mamdani, feels it is time for a new style of leadership.

01:12The self-described socialist Democrat put affordability at the heart of his Merrill campaign,

01:17pledging rent freezes, free buses, universal childcare and higher corporate taxes.

01:24It is time now for a new day in our politics.

01:28And it is an honour and a privilege to be a part of a movement

01:31that has fought every single day to bring that day forward.

01:35If elected, the 34-year-old would become New York's second youngest and first Muslim mayor.

01:42An outcome Donald Trump is trying to prevent.

01:45Because if you have a communist running New York...

01:48The U.S. President went so far on Tuesday as to accuse any Jewish Mamdani voters of being stupid,

01:55based on his unfounded claim that Mamdani is anti-Semitic.

02:00Andrew Cuomo, who is running for mayor as an independent after his surprise loss to Mamdani

02:05in the Democratic primaries, has also gone on the attack.

02:09The former governor of New York state is hoping to reboot his political career

02:13after he resigned in 2021 over sexual assault allegations.

02:18He says the outcome of this race could determine the future of the Democratic Party.

02:24Well, I think what you're seeing is a civil war in the Democratic Party

02:29that has been brewing for a while.

02:32You have an extreme radical left that is run by the socialists.

02:37That is challenging, what they would call moderate Democrats.

02:42I'm a moderate Democrat.

02:46And that contest is what you're seeing here.

02:50But you're seeing it all across the country.

02:53Republican Curtis Sliwa is also in the running.

02:56However, he has an uphill battle if he's going to win in the Democratic stronghold of New York.

03:01You've seen it all across the country.

03:03We're going to speak more on Mamdani's momentous rise now

03:06and bring in Laura Taman.

03:08She's a clinical assistant professor of political science at Pace University.

03:12She joins us from New York.

03:14Laura, thank you so much for joining us on the program.

03:17Mamdani has basically gone from a little-known assembly member

03:22to a social media sensation and now the very likely next mayor of New York.

03:28Why are people so drawn to him, do you think?

03:30It's a great question.

03:34I think the combination of him being the same person off camera that he is on camera

03:39is really appealing to people at a time when they're losing trust in government.

03:45His laser focus on the message of affordability obviously really won young people over.

03:51Well, actually won people over from all age groups.

03:55And he's bringing an energy to our politics that is new.

03:59He'll be the youngest mayor that New York has had in 100 years.

04:04And people seem excited for change.

04:07Well, you mentioned there that he has a massive base among young people,

04:11very popular among young people.

04:14How much of this is about him being young?

04:16How much of the draw here is the fact that he is young?

04:21And younger Americans, generally speaking, want to have people in charge

04:24that are their own age, that they can relate to?

04:29They do.

04:30They are drawn to people who they can relate to for sure.

04:34But he also does have the experience of being a member of the Assembly for several years.

04:39So he has enough experience that he's been able to speak to

04:44to make his policy proposals realistic and achievable.

04:49But I think that both him being younger and the issues that he has talked about

04:54have been what has excited young people.

04:57And he's used the medium that is natural to them, social media.

05:03He is native to social media.

05:06He understands how to use it and how to be himself on social media

05:10in a way that's very compelling to people.

05:13So that's why I think young people are really excited about this.

05:18Well, much of the Democratic old guard is skeptical about Mondani.

05:22Talk to us about the hesitation.

05:24Why are they so skeptical of him?

05:28You know, I think they're kind of stuck in the old world

05:31and they're trying to quickly catch up now.

05:34But it's pretty clear that Americans are closer to where Mondani is

05:40than to where the folks who have been in office for the last 30 or 40 years are.

05:46Democrats, the polling is clear, are really unhappy with how Senator Schumer

05:52and the minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, have been leading in the Congress.

05:58And Americans seem eager for change.

06:02Well, isn't it time for the Democrats that are skeptical?

06:06You know, there's been so much soul searching in the party since Donald Trump won last year.

06:12Isn't it time for these Democrats to sort of get with the program

06:16and actually learn from Mondani's very successful campaign so far?

06:20Yeah, I think anybody who wants to be successful in politics would be foolish to write him off

06:29as a one-off or as just someone who's able to succeed in a big city.

06:35He's had such broad appeal.

06:38Yes, he appeals to young people, but he wins most demographics of voters in New York City.

06:45And America has always been a diverse place, and increasingly so.

06:50He doesn't just appeal to ideological progressives.

06:55You know, one of the things that helped him break through was he went and talked to people

06:58who voted for Donald Trump about why they did that.

07:02And that was one of the things that really made him into a contender.

07:05So he's showing a new style of politicking in America.

07:11Somebody who listens, someone with a lot of energy, someone who's young and relatable.

07:16And I think smart Democrats are taking notes.

07:20Well, Mondani, much of his campaign has been about the cost of living in New York.

07:24He's proposed universal childcare, rent-free, free bus travel and grocery shops run by the city.

07:31He's proposing paying for it by taxing the rich and corporations in New York.

07:37How feasible are those plans?

07:39I mean, some say that he'll bankrupt the city.

07:42What do you think?

07:44Yeah, so I actually think his plans are pretty realistic.

07:48Depending on what Donald Trump does with New York's tax dollars,

07:53President Trump could definitely cause some problems for Mondani.

07:57But it was very telling to me that Governor Hochul of New York,

08:02who would be a necessary partner for advancing most of his agenda,

08:07she endorsed his most expensive proposal, which is universal childcare,

08:12and said she sees a path to achieving it.

08:16The rent freeze is something he can do unilaterally without needing anyone's approval or a tax hike.

08:25And the free buses is something he's going to need to work on with the state legislature.

08:30The grocery stores is a small pilot project that he's proposing that isn't expensive at all.

08:36So I think his policy agenda is actually very realistic.

08:41Well, as you mentioned there, Donald Trump has threatened to withhold federal funding from New York

08:46if Mondani comes out on top.

08:48How legally possible is that?

08:50Does Donald Trump have the right to do that?

08:52I think that Donald Trump is currently testing the boundaries of what he's legally able to do,

09:00and we're going to have to see how both the Congress and the courts react to what he's doing,

09:06because he is just grabbing power on a level that is unprecedented,

09:11and the other branches of government are not reacting the way that they have in the past

09:16to provide guardrails.

09:19So I think it's unclear at the moment how that's going to turn out.

09:24And of course, Mondani has very much embraced his Muslim faith.

09:27He's been very vocal about the war in Gaza.

09:31Talk to us about how much that has helped him in gaining support in the city.

09:35What I think has really helped him is that he knows what it's like to be an immigrant.

09:42He knows what it's like to be a member of a religious minority.

09:46And New York, one of the great things about the city is how diverse it is,

09:51how many immigrants come here, how many people are from immigrant families.

09:58And so I think that that relatability has really helped him understand voters

10:04and understand how to connect with them and what's important to them.

10:09And it helps that it's a stark contrast with Andrew Cuomo,

10:15who doesn't have that same lived experience as Mondani.

10:19Laura, it was great to speak to you.

10:21Thank you so much for joining us on the program and giving us your thoughts.

10:25Really great to have that breakdown from you.

10:26Stay with us here on World Roundup.

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