Democratic New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani stood by his past characterizations of President Donald Trump as a “fascist” and “threat to democracy” during a “Meet the Press” interview recorded Saturday.
Mandani defeated former Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Republican mayoral nominee Curtis Sliwa on Nov. 4, ending the race to replace outgoing Independent Mayor Eric Adams. “Meet the Press” host Kristen Welker asked Mamdani about his past verbal attacks on Trump following Friday’s surprisingly congenial meeting between the two New Yorkers in the White House.
“In that press conference with President Trump, a reporter asked you whether you believe that President Trump is, in fact, a fascist, a word that you’ve used in the past. You were about to answer, then President Trump sort of jumped in, and he said, ‘That’s okay. You can just say, ‘Yes,’ it’s easier than explaining it,” Welker asked. “So, Mr. Mayor-elect, just to be very clear, do you think that President Trump is a fascist?”
“And after President Trump said that, I said yes,” Mamdani replied.
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“So you do?” Welker pressed.
“And that’s something that I’ve said in the past,” he responded. “I say it today and, I think, what I appreciated about the conversation that I had with the president was that we were not shy about the places of disagreement about the politics that has brought us to the moment.”
“You’ve also said in the past that President Trump has engaged in a[n] ‘attack on our democracy.’ You’ve called him a despot. Do you still believe President Trump is a threat to the democracy?” Welker asked.
“Everything that I said in the past I continue to believe and that’s the thing that I think is important in our politics: is that we don’t shy away from where we have disagreements but we understand what it is that brings us to that table,” Mamdani replied.
Some conservatives say negatively charged rhetoric about Trump has contributed to a rise in political violence. White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and his family were forced to move from their home in Arlington, Virginia after a campaign of harassment that included writing messages such as, “Stephen Miller is destroying democracy,” “no white nationalism,” and “trans rights are human rights” on public sidewalks near his residence, along with posting flyers listing his home address.
Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk was fatally shot Sept. 10 while taking part in a “Prove Me Wrong” event at Utah Valley University. Trump survived two assassination attempts during the 2024 presidential campaign, including a similar attack during a July 13, 2024 campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania and a Sept. 15, 2024 attempt to ambush him at a golf course.
Then-Vice President Kamala Harris also escalated attacks on Trump in the closing weeks of the 2024 presidential campaign, devoting a major speech to attacking the then-former president as a threat to democracy and portraying him as “unstable” days after calling him a “fascist” during an Oct. 23, 2024 CNN town hall.
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