The Rise of Zohran Mamdani: From 2021 Hunger Strike to Mayoral Election Victory
www.democracynow.org
As Zohran Mamdani prepares to become New York’s first Muslim and first South Asian mayor on January 1, we look at the historic rise of the democratic socialist who shocked the political establishment. We spend the hour hearing Mamdani in his own words and look at the grassroots coalition that helped him pull off what’s been described as “one of the great political upsets in modern American history.”

AMY GOODMAN: This is a very strong message to the entire country. It’s not only Republicans who were organized against Mayor Mamdani. It’s the Democratic Party, as well. What are your thoughts on that?

FAHD AHMED: Yeah. You know, in our work, we talk about… the policies of the centrists, whether they’re Democrats or some of the old Republicans, that created the conditions that caused the rise of the right. When people’s needs aren’t being met, they need an alternative, and so far, only the far right was providing an alternative in the form of authoritarianism, in the form of fascism, in the form of hate, turning against immigrants, against queer people, against Muslims. And what this campaign and our movement was able to do was offer a left alternative.