Featured Image Credit: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Topics: Donald Trump, Zohran Mamdani, Politics, US News, News
Madison Burgess
Topics: Donald Trump, Zohran Mamdani, Politics, US News, News
New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani has doubled down on his previous comments about Donald Trump despite their successful Oval Office meeting on Friday (21 November).
For those who missed it, the new NYC mayor, 34, who's set to take office in January, met face-to-face with the US president, 79 for the first time since it was revealed he'd won the election.
The political pair have made it clear in the past they aren't exactly the biggest fans of each other, with Mamdani even going as far as to describe himself as 'Donald Trump’s worst nightmare'.
Meanwhile, Trump hasn't minced his words either and has brutally called the Democratic socialist a '100% Communist lunatic' and a 'total nut job'.
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However, you wouldn't know any of this if you witnessed their meeting on Friday, which was actually quite harmonious and focused more on their shared goals rather than their differences.
The president and the mayor-elect discussed housing affordability and the cost of groceries and utilities, with Trump telling reporters: “We’re going to be helping him, to make everybody’s dream come true, having a strong and very safe New York.”
Mamdani added: “What I really appreciate about the president is that the meeting that we had focused not on places of disagreement, which there are many, and also focused on the shared purpose that we have in serving New Yorkers.”
However, there was one awkward moment during the meeting, where they were taking questions from the press and one reporter asked Mamdani to confirm 'whether he thinks President Trump is a fascist'.
Slightly tricky question to answer when the person in question is standing right next to you.
The mayor-elect began to answer but was quickly interrupted by Trump, who said: "That's OK, you can just say yes, that's easier."
The moment quickly went viral on social media and now, in an episode of NBC's Meet The Press with Kristen Welker, which was filmed after the meeting, Mamdani was given the opportunity to answer the question properly.
Host Welker asked: "In that press conference with President Trump a reporter asked you whether you believe that Trump is in fact a fascist - a word that you've used in the past.
"You were about to answer and then President Trump sort of jumped in. So Mr Mayor-Elect, just to be very clear, do you think that President Trump is a fascist?"
Mamdani responded: "And after President Trump said that I said yes. That's something I've said in the past and I say it today.
"I think what I appreciated about the conversation that I had with the president was that we're not shy about the places of disagreement, about the politics that has brought us to this moment."
He added: "We also wanted to focus on what it could look like to deliver on a shared analysis of an affordability crisis for New Yorkers."
The host then followed up by asking: "You've also said in the past that President Trump has engaged in an 'attack on our democracy,' you've called him a 'despot'. Do you still believe President Trump is a threat to the democracy?"
To which the Big Apple's mayor confirmed: "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, because I'm not coming into the Oval Office to make a point or make a stand. I'm coming in there to deliver for New Yorkers."
To elaborate on his point, he added: "A few weeks ago I was asked by a reporter, three words to describe myself and I said 'New York City' and that's what animated that conversation. How do we deliver for the people of New York City?"