Mamdani tells Jon Stewart: ‘New York deserves politics that aspire for more’

Muslim Network TV Desk

NEW YORK (MNTV) – New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, appearing on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, offered one of his most detailed explanations yet of his vision for a city that “aspires for more than what people are living through.”

The 33-year-old Queens Assemblyman, the Democratic nominee and clear frontrunner in next week’s election, spoke about transforming the city’s politics from transactional to participatory—anchored in fairness, housing security, and jobs that pay enough to live with dignity.

“Politics is not something you have, it’s something you do,” Mamdani told Stewart, to applause from the audience. “And when our volunteers knock on a stranger’s door, they’re not just winning votes—they’re starting to build the city we all want to live in.”

Mamdani credited his campaign’s momentum to what he called a “movement of neighbors,” boasting 90,000 active volunteers making calls and knocking on doors.

“For all the focus on rallies, commercials, and debates, it really comes back to people talking to each other about the city they love,” he said. “New Yorkers are not rude—they’re honest. And when you talk to them about rent or jobs, you see kindness, not hostility.”

He recounted moments from canvassing across the boroughs, including a woman in Brooklyn who shouted, “I’m voting for you!” from her car. “It sounded like she was yelling at me,” he laughed, “but that’s just New York love.”

When Stewart asked about public safety, Mamdani was direct: “Public safety is the prerequisite for any affordability agenda,” he said. “But safety isn’t just something you deliver through the NYPD. It’s about whether people have jobs that pay enough to stay in the city.”

He described riding the subway earlier that day and seeing a homeless man asleep on the train. “We have about 4,300 New Yorkers sleeping in stations and parks,” he said. “There are nearly the same number of vacant supportive housing units built for them. That’s not a money problem—it’s a will problem.”

Mamdani argued that housing, employment, and healthcare are core components of safety. “Our government has become complacent with poverty,” he said. “One in four New Yorkers lives below the poverty line in the richest city in America. That’s unacceptable.”

Mamdani rejected the notion that “quality of life” is a conservative talking point. “If you care about working people, you must care about their quality of life,” he said. “Clean streets, working transit, safe parks—those are progressive issues.”

He criticized city agencies for inefficiency. “When a trash can overflows, instead of increasing collection, they remove the trash can,” he said. “We say we don’t have money to help the poor, but we have money to pay consultants to design the trash cans. It’s not about resources. It’s about priorities.”

New politics of belonging

Stewart, who praised Mamdani for running an affirmative campaign, asked about his uneasy relationship with the Democratic establishment. Mamdani downplayed party friction, saying the campaign proved that “endorsements don’t decide elections anymore.”

“We showed that the days of endorsements deciding elections are over,” he said. “It’s the people who build movements. Cuomo had the endorsements. We had the New Yorkers.”

He acknowledged House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries’ late endorsement but said his campaign was already powered by “shared belief, not hierarchy.”

Mamdani said he understands why some older or moderate New Yorkers see him as a risk. “They’ve seen tens of millions of dollars in ads telling them to fear me,” he said. “So when they meet me and I don’t strangle them within 30 seconds, it’s often a pleasant surprise,” he joked.

He also debunked outlandish rumors, saying, “I will freeze the rent, not defund the police. I’ll make buses fast and free, not decriminalize misdemeanors. I’ll deliver universal childcare—but I won’t require everyone to eat halal food,” referring to a false claim circulated in push polls.

“If you want halal, go to 34th Avenue and Steinway. I recommend Mahmoud’s,” he said, drawing laughter from the audience.

The candidate, a son of Ugandan-Indian immigrants and a democratic socialist, credited young voters for giving his campaign vitality. “We’ve been told young people don’t care,” he said. “But they do—they just don’t want to be lied to.”

He recalled a moment in Washington Square Park when a supporter referenced late Mayor Ed Koch’s famous line: ‘If you agree with me on 9 out of 12 issues, vote for me; 12 out of 12, see a psychiatrist.’ “This young man came up to me and said, ‘Twelve out of twelve, baby—send me away!’” Mamdani laughed. “It showed me how much young people are paying attention to policy.”

“We talk to young voters as equals,” he said. “We don’t patronize them. We don’t hang shiny slogans in front of them. They want to be part of something that believes in them.”

Taxes, housing, and feasibility

Addressing concerns about his tax plan, Mamdani explained that modest increases on millionaires and corporations would fund a broad affordability agenda. “Raising the millionaire’s tax by 2 percent and matching New Jersey’s corporate tax rate—these are not radical ideas,” he said. “They’re precedented and popular. And we’re doing it to make this city livable again.”

Stewart pressed on whether his plans were realistic. Mamdani replied that realism is shaped by political coalitions. “The reality people talk about is itself political,” he said. “We’ve already shifted what’s possible by changing who’s at the table.”

On housing, he said New York’s problem wasn’t land scarcity but “a lack of imagination.” “Jersey City builds seven homes per 1,000 people, Tokyo builds 10—we barely build four,” he said. “That’s not density. That’s bureaucracy and fear.”

Asked about leadership, Mamdani said, “It’s not about pretending to know everything. It’s about building a team that can deliver.” Youth, he said, brings both “possibility and humility.” “You know you don’t have all the answers—and you’re willing to learn,” he said.

As the interview ended, Stewart told Mamdani his candidacy was historic. “You’re representing communities that haven’t been represented—a Muslim, a young person, a progressive, a democratic socialist,” Stewart said. “It’s a bit of a Jackie Robinson moment.”

Mamdani, visibly moved, replied: “This campaign is about believing in New York again. It’s about saying we can do more than survive—we can build a city where everyone belongs.”

The Daily Show episode, which aired Monday night, came as Mamdani continues to lead Andrew Cuomo by 10 points in the latest Suffolk University poll, with Republican Curtis Sliwa trailing far behind.