New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, while dressed in traditional Middle Eastern garb, appeared to tell a YouTube comedian that multiple action movies should get feminist remakes, according to a 2020 video clip that resurfaced Tuesday.
Comedian Ryan Long on Tuesday posted a 20-second clip to X of his brief man-on-the-street interview with a man who appears to be Mamdani, taken from a minute-long video Long posted to his YouTube channel in February 2020 titled “What Movies Should Women Remake in 2020?” The video was uploaded and likely recorded when Mamdani, an avowed socialist, was a first-time candidate for the New York State Assembly and went viral on X nearly six years later, less than 48 hours before he is to take office on Jan. 1, 2026, as New York City’s next mayor.
The apparently younger Mamdani told Long that a reboot of “Bad Boys,” an R-rated action comedy franchise featuring Martin Lawrence and Will Smith, “would be fun” with “two women in the starring roles.” The youthful interview subject was prominently wearing a red and white keffiyeh around his neck, a Middle Eastern head scarf widely associated with both Palestinian nationalism and far-left politics.
“What are some of the other ones that you think they should make the male version of and just replace them with women and push it up?” Long followed up.
“Rush Hour,” the Keffiyeh-clad man, appearing to be Mamdani, replied, naming a trio of buddy cop movies starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker.
WATCH:
Holy Shit in 2020 I Asked Zohran Mamdani which other movies women should remake with Female Leads and didn’t realize
pic.twitter.com/GIbeJVnAQq
— Ryan Long (@ryanlongcomedy) December 30, 2025
Should action movies have more feminist remakes?
“What would that be like with the women? ‘Never touch a black girl’s radio,’ that sort of thing?” Long asked, referring to an iconic line uttered by Tucker in the first “Rush Hour” film.
Mamdani appeared to hesitate for a few seconds before responding, “I can’t really speak on that.” The then-28-year-old politician went on to upset a five-term incumbent assemblywoman in the Democratic Primary — kicking off his career in electoral politics — just five months after Long published the comedic video to his YouTube channel. Mamdani won his race with the support of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).
A spokesperson for Mamdani did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
Long said at the beginning of the pre-COVID pandemic video that the premise of the man-on-the-street interviews was spurred by the poorly received female-led reboots of “Ghostbusters” and “Men in Black” in the late 2010s.
“It’s not about getting people to watch them, obviously they’re all bombing,” Long tells another one of his interviewees about the feminist remakes. “It’s more about just doing it.”
The “Rush Hour” franchise notably made headlines in late November when reports surfaced alleging that President Donald Trump successfully strong-armed Paramount to distribute a fourth installment in the franchise, which last hit theaters in 2007.
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