Van Jones Calls Out Zohran Mamdani After Rage-Filled Victory Speech
Even some Democrats are raising red flags about New York City’s new socialist mayor-elect, Zohran Mamdani, after his fiery and defiant victory speech Tuesday night revealed a far more aggressive tone than the soft-spoken image he projected during the campaign.
Left-wing CNN commentator Van Jones, typically friendly to progressive figures, admitted he was startled by Mamdani’s sudden transformation the moment the election was called.
“I think he missed an opportunity,” Jones said on CNN. “The Mamdani that we saw on the campaign trail, who was a lot more calm, who was a lot warmer, who was a lot more embracing, was not present in that speech.”
“I think his tone was sharp. I think he was using the microphone in a way that he was almost yelling,” Jones continued. “That warm, open, embracing guy was not there tonight. I felt like it was a little bit of a character switch.”
Jones warned that Mamdani may have alienated voters who were still undecided about his far-left agenda.
“There are a lot of people trying to figure out, ‘Can I get on this train with him or not?’ I think he missed a chance tonight to bring more people into the tent,” Jones said, calling the new mayor’s tone “more combative than inclusive.”
Declaring victory roughly two hours after polls closed, the 34-year-old Democratic Socialist wasted no time claiming a mandate for his radical platform.
“The conventional wisdom would tell you that I am far from the perfect candidate. I am young, I am Muslim, I am a democratic socialist. And most damning of all, I refuse to apologize for any of this,” Mamdani boasted to a roaring crowd.
“New York, tonight you have delivered a mandate for change — a mandate for a city that we can afford and a government that delivers exactly that.”
With nearly all precincts reporting, Mamdani captured 50.4% of the vote, defeating independent candidate and former governor Andrew Cuomo, who received 42%, according to the city’s Board of Elections.
Meanwhile, Just the News has obtained internal documents from the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) — the same organization to which Mamdani belongs — showing plans to pressure the new mayor into implementing sweeping anti-Israel policies across city government.
According to Politico, DSA’s New York City branch actively helped Mamdani downplay his affiliation during the campaign to appear more moderate than his record suggested.
The DSA’s “Socialists in Office” coalition describes itself as a group of lawmakers who “advance a socialist vision for working-class people.” Mamdani is prominently featured on its official list of members.
A resurfaced 2023 video of Mamdani speaking at the DSA’s national conference shows just how extreme his rhetoric once was.
“When the boot of the NYPD is on your neck, it has been laced by the IDF,” he declared — a statement widely condemned at the time as anti-Israel and deeply offensive to Jewish New Yorkers.
The remark, along with his long-standing DSA ties, underscores how far outside the mainstream Mamdani’s ideology truly is — and why even Van Jones, one of the Left’s most prominent voices, is warning Democrats to tread carefully.