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Conservative political commentator Ben Shapiro recently likened Zohran Mamdani's New York City mayoral campaign to "third-grade running for class president" politics, claiming the newly elected mayor ran on a "free ice cream platform." For the uninitiated, Mamdani, aged 34, won the New York City mayoral race on November 4, 2025, beating former governor Andrew Cuomo and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa.
On election night, CNN ran a live election telecast featuring a mixed bag panel of speakers ranging from Charlamagne Tha God to Ben Shapiro. During the telecast, Shapiro claimed that Zohran Mamdani offered the residents of New York City "everything you could possibly want" to win the election. He also claimed that Mamdani's campaign was similar to an elementary school student's run for class president, saying:
"If he wins, it will be a really great referendum on 'third-grade running for class president' politics. Cause the way we all ran for class president in third grade, those of us who ran for class president and maybe didn't win in third grade was, 'free ice cream platform...' Mamdani is promising free buses, transgender surgeries for cats, like everything you could possibly want. He's really going all the way."This is not the first time Ben Shapiro has criticized Zohran Mamdani. In his new book, titled Lions and Scavengers: The True Story of America (and Her Critics) and released in September 2025, Shapiro debated that Western civilization was being picked apart by "scavengers," saying that Mamdani was a "platonic example of a scavenger instinct at work."
According to The New York Post, Shapiro likened the "lions" to everyone who held values that contributed to a free world, while "scavengers" were the people "who produce nothing, and demand everything" and blamed "their own miseries, in free societies, on ‘systems of power’ that supposedly rob them of autonomy; who claim that failure is a virtue and success a sin.”
“The Mamdani campaign is a great example of this — the sort of unification of disparate factions that really have very little in common with one another other than hatred of the system and desire to tear it down,” he added.
Zohran Mamdani with his parents and his wife at the Primary Election Night Party (Image via Getty)Exploring Zohran Mamdani's victory speech following his win
Zohran Mamdani, who won the New York mayoral election on November 4, 2025, spoke about toppling a "political dynasty" in his speech and praised the working people of New York for daring to "reach for something greater." He thanked his campaign team, his parents, his wife, Rama Duwaji, and every New Yorker, saying:
"To every New Yorker — whether you voted for me, for one of my opponents, or felt too disappointed by politics to vote at all — thank you for the opportunity to prove myself worthy of your trust. I will wake each morning with a singular purpose: to make this city better for you than it was the day before."In his speech, Mamdani also quoted Jawaharlal Nehru, who was elected the first Prime Minister of India after its independence. For context, Mamdani's mother, Mira Nair, is an Indian-American filmmaker.
After winning New York city mayoral elections, Zohran Mamdani (@ZohranKMamdani), quotes former Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru in his victory speech. "Standing before you, I think of the words of Jawaharlal Nehru. A moment comes but rarely in history when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends and when the soul of a nation long suppressed finds utterance. Tonight, we have stepped out from the old into the new. So, let us speak now with clarity and conviction that cannot be misunderstood that what this new age will deliver and for whom. This will be an age where New Yorkers expect from their leaders bold vision of what we will achieve rather than a list of excuses for what we are too timid to attempt."
Zohran Mamdani also spoke in support of immigrants, the trans community, the Jewish community, and the Muslim community. He added that New York was a city "built by immigrants, powered by immigrants and, as of tonight, led by an immigrant."
He also addressed Donald Trump in his victory speech, saying that he had four words for the president.
"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. And if there is any way to terrify a despot, it is by dismantling the very conditions that allowed him to accumulate power. 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 said.Zohran Mamdani ended his speech with a reminder to New Yorkers that the power and the city belonged to them.
Zohran Mamdani, who is New York City's first Muslim mayor, will take office on January 1, 2026.
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Edited by Juhi Marzia
English (US)