WASHINGTON:&nbsp;Months of sniping melted away on Friday as New York&#39;s incoming mayor Zohran Mamdani and President Donald Trump were all smiles at a White House meeting &mdash; promising to set aside their feud and cooperate on the city&#39;s future. Mamdani, a 34-year-old political insurgent who rocketed from obscurity to win City Hall earlier this month, had taken on Trump in a bruising war of words, likening the Republican to &quot;bad landlords... taking advantage of their tenants.&quot;<div class="fr-embed instagram-embed" style="width: 50%; display: block; max-width: 600px;"><blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRVxhuSDZXk/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:540px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:16px;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRVxhuSDZXk/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style=" background:#FFFFFF; line-height:0; padding:0 0; text-align:center; text-decoration:none; 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font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:550; line-height:18px;">View this post on Instagram</div></div><div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div><div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"><div><div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div><div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div><div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div></div><div style="margin-left: 8px;"><div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div><div style=" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg)"> </div></div><div style="margin-left: auto;"><div style=" width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div><div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div><div style=" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div></div></div><div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"><div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div><div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div></div></a><p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRVxhuSDZXk/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">A post shared by Pakistan TV Digital (@pakistantvdigital)</a></div></blockquote></div>Washington watchers were bracing for sparks to fly when the self-described Democratic socialist met the Republican leader who has in turn branded the mayor-elect a &quot;communist&quot; and suggested the Ugandan-born New Yorker should be deported. But the Oval Office summit was instead the embodiment of civility as a beaming Trump, 79, praised Mamdani&#39;s historic election win, said he could do a &quot;great job,&quot; and called him a &quot;man who really wants to see New York be great again.&quot; &quot;We&#39;re going to be helping him to make everybody&#39;s dream come true: having a strong and very safe New York,&quot; Trump said. Mamdani described the face-to-face as &quot;very productive&quot; and spoke of the leaders&#39; &quot;shared admiration and love&quot; for America&#39;s financial capital and largest city. By dinnertime, Trump had shared multiple photographs of the White House meeting on his Truth Social platform, gushing that &quot;It was a Great Honor meeting Zohran Mamdani, the new Mayor of New York City!&quot; The about-face caused some conservative figures to recoil, with prominent far-right activist Laura Loomer framing the unexpected cordiality as a harbinger of political disaster. &quot;The Democrats will have a land slide in the midterms after today,&quot; she wrote on X. &quot;How will the GOP campaign ahead of 2026 if Mamdani and his policies are now considered rational?&quot; Both men hail from the Queens borough of New York City and both are masters of political theater &mdash; but their styles couldn&#39;t be more different, with Trump thriving on bombast and grievance as Mamdani pitches affordability and inclusion. Oval Office encounters with the brash billionaire often turn into ambush theater &mdash; a lesson absorbed by Ukraine&#39;s President Volodymyr Zelensky, who endured a public dressing-down by Trump and Vice President JD Vance. Political analysts had warned that Mamdani could be walking into a Zelensky-like situation. For weeks they had traded barbs, with Trump threatening to make life difficult for the young political upstart. Political lightning strikeBut Trump repeatedly offered his support for Mamdani &mdash; even telling reporters it was &quot;OK&quot; for the younger politician to have called him a &quot;despot.&quot; &quot;I&#39;ve been called much worse than a despot. So it&#39;s not that insulting. Maybe he&#39;ll change his mind after we get to working together,&quot; a conciliatory Trump said, adding that he hoped Mamdani would be &quot;a really great mayor.&quot; For his part, Mamdani noted that many New Yorkers had backed Trump in the 2024 presidential election &quot;because of that focus on cost of living.&quot; &quot;And I&#39;m looking forward to working together to deliver on that affordability,&quot; he said. It was all a far cry from the barbs the pair had exchanged in the run-up to the meeting. Beyond mocking Mamdani&#39;s South Asian name, the president has dangled cuts to federal funding and even National Guard deployments &mdash; a tactic he used against other Democratic cities. Mamdani&#39;s rise has been nothing short of electric. Virtually unknown a year ago, he stormed the political barricades with a campaign promising rent freezes, free buses, and city-run grocery stores &mdash; while flooding social media with upbeat videos and dialed-up charisma. He didn&#39;t just win &mdash; he shattered records, pulling in more than one million votes, the first New York mayoral candidate to do so since 1969. Yet the firebrand progressive set to become New York&#39;s first Muslim mayor has shown flashes of pragmatism, soothing centrists wary of a radical shake-up. He reappointed incumbent police commissioner Jessica Tisch, a steady hand popular with rank-and-file officers, and named veteran bureaucrat Dean Fuleihan as his first deputy mayor &mdash; signs of continuity amid his promised revolution. On the campaign trail, Mamdani cast himself as part of the anti-Trump resistance, but he has since stressed his desire to work with the president on the &quot;national crisis of affordability.&quot;

Americas

Oval Office summit embodiment of civility as beaming Trump praises Mamdani's historic election win, says he can do a "great job," calls him a "man who really wants to see New York be great again."

NY mayor-elect and Trump make nice in White House love-in

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said he will host New York&#39;s mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani for a meeting Friday, after fiercely attacking the 34-year-old self-described Democratic Socialist during his recent campaign. Trump said on his Truth Social platform the mayor-elect &quot;asked for a meeting&quot; and it &quot;will take place at the Oval Office on Friday, November 21st.&quot; Mamdani&#39;s spokesperson Dora Pekec confirmed the meeting in a statement. &quot;As is customary for an incoming mayoral administration, the Mayor-elect plans to meet with the President in Washington to discuss public safety, economic security and the affordability agenda that over one million New Yorkers voted for just two weeks ago,&quot; Pekec said Wednesday. Two men raised in Queens Trump&#39;s meeting with Mamdani marks the coming together of two men raised in the Queens borough of New York, but their similarities may end there. Anti-immigrant Trump has derided Mamdani&#39;s South Asian name, and threatened to cut federal funding for New York upon the Muslim&#39;s election to run America&#39;s largest city. &quot;Mandami, whatever the hell his name is,&quot; Trump said recently -- deliberately mispronouncing the Uganda-born politician&#39;s surname. &lsquo;Turn the volume up!&rsquo; Mamdani has not backed down from Trump, calling out the 79-year-old Republican during his victory rally earlier this month. &quot;Donald Trump, since I know you&#39;re watching, I have four words for you -- turn the volume up!&quot; he said to his cheering supporters. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt later confirmed the president had indeed watched Mamdani speak.

Trump's meeting with Mamdani marks the coming together of two men raised in the Queens borough of New York, but their similarities may end there; Mamdani's spokesperson Dora Pekec confirmed the meeting in a statement.

Trump says will meet with New York mayor-elect Mamdani on Friday

Web Desk

ISLAMABAD: &nbsp;Lina Khan, a British-born lawyer of Pakistani descent and former chair of the US Federal Trade Commission, has been named co-chair of New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani&rsquo;s all-women transition team. New York City mayor-elect Mamdani, on Wednesday, named five women to co-chair his transition team as he prepares to take office on January 1, according to AFP. The transition team includes co-chairs Lina Khan, Maria Torres‑Springer, Grace Bonilla, Melanie Hartzog, and Elana Leopold as the executive director. In a statement shared on the social media platform X, Lina Khan expressed confidence that Zohran Mamdani has the vision and courage they actually deliver, adding that it was an honor for her to be part of the transition team. <div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; line-height: 2;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-1" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-1&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1986224535557853608&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Farticles%2F&sessionId=efc8c01abe5eb2d78c0a2154e04dd02116c2bd89&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 548px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</iframe></div></div> Here are brief profiles of the transition team members: Lina Khan&nbsp;The US Federal Trade Commission&rsquo;s website says that Lina Khan served as chair of the Federal Trade Commission from June 15, 2021, to January 20, 2025. Before joining the FTC, Khan served as counsel to the US House Judiciary Committee&rsquo;s Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law. She was also an associate professor at Columbia Law School. Khan is a graduate of Williams College and Yale Law School. According to Columbia Law School&rsquo;s website, Khan has been named to the Politico 50, Foreign Policy magazine&rsquo;s Global Thinkers, Prospect magazine&rsquo;s Top 50 Thinkers, WIRED25, National Journal 50, and Time magazine&rsquo;s Next Generation Leaders. She is a recipient of the Reinhardt Fellow 2016-2017, a scholarship for demonstrated commitment to public interest law. She has also won awards such as the Israel H. Peres Prize for best Note or Comment appearing in the Yale Law Journal (2017); Michael Egger Prize for best Yale Law Journal Note on current social problems (2017), and Arthur B. Graves Essay Prize for best essay in political theory (2010), according to Khan&rsquo;s CV available on the US Senate Committee on Housing&rsquo;s website. According to an international media report, Khan was born in London in 1989 to Pakistani parents. The family emigrated to the US when she was 11. Maria Torres-Springer&nbsp;Maria Torres-Springer resigned her post as deputy mayor under outgoing Mayor Eric Adams due to his engagement with US President Donald Trump, according to AFP. According to the New York City (NYC) government&rsquo;s website, Torres-Springer has served as the deputy mayor for housing, economic development, and workforce development.&nbsp; Torres-Springer previously was vice president of US Programs at the Ford Foundation, commissioner of the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, and also a president and CEO of the New York City Economic Development Corporation.&nbsp;Grace Bonilla&nbsp;According to the NYC government&rsquo;s website, Grace Bonilla has served as the president and CEO of United Way of New York City (UWNYC) since July 2022. Before her role at UWNYC, Grace held leadership positions across the nonprofit sector, including senior vice president for Latin America at Covenant House International.&nbsp;Melanie Hartzog&nbsp;According to The New York Foundling&rsquo;s website, Melanie Hartzog is the nonprofit&#39;s CEO and president. Hartzog was the deputy mayor of New York City for Health and Human Services. She previously served as the director of the Mayor&rsquo;s Office of Management and Budget.&nbsp; Hartzog holds a Master of Science degree from the New School&rsquo;s Milano School of International Affairs, Management and Urban Policy and a Bachelor of Arts from Eckerd College. Elana Leopold&nbsp;Elana Leopold is a progressive political strategist and runs Seneca Strategies, New York&rsquo;s first women-run political consulting firm, according to an international publication. Landslide victory&nbsp;Mamdani, 34, broke the one-million-vote mark, earning 50% of the vote, compared to his closest rival, 67-year-old former state governor Andrew Cuomo, who won just shy of 42% in the largest turnout since 1969.

Lina Khan joins Maria Torres‑Springer, Grace Bonilla, Melanie Hartzog, and Elana Leopold as a member of New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s all-women transition team tasked with preparing for Mamdani’s administration, which begins on January 1.

Who is Lina Khan and Mamdani’s all-women transition team?

ISLAMABAD: Former US President Donald Trump on Tuesday night posted a cryptic message, &ldquo;So, it begins!&rdquo;, on his social media platform Truth Social, shortly after Zohran Mamdani delivered his victory speech as New York City&rsquo;s new mayor, a post widely interpreted as a veiled threat toward the progressive politician.<div class="fr-embed"><iframe src="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/115495225031046506/embed" class="truthsocial-embed" style="max-width: 100%; border: 0" width="600" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></div>Mamdani, the city&rsquo;s first Muslim and South Asian mayor, had directly challenged Trump in his remarks, saying, &ldquo;Donald Trump, since I know you&rsquo;re watching, I have four words for you: turn the volume up!&rdquo; &ldquo;In this moment of political darkness, New York will be the light,&rdquo; Mamdani declared to a cheering crowd. &ldquo;If anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him.&rdquo; The 33-year-old Democrat, known for his outspoken socialist stance, pledged to &ldquo;end the culture of corruption that has allowed billionaires like Donald Trump to evade taxation and exploit tax breaks.&rdquo; His economic plan includes raising the corporate tax rate to match New Jersey&rsquo;s 11.5 percent and imposing a 2 percent wealth tax on New Yorkers earning more than one million dollars annually. Mamdani also announced ambitious social policies, promising to freeze rents for all tenants in rent-stabilized apartments and to hold negligent landlords accountable. &ldquo;The Donald Trumps of our city have grown far too comfortable taking advantage of their tenants,&rdquo; he said. As part of his affordability agenda, Mamdani vowed to make city buses fare-free, describing public transport as &ldquo;a right, not a privilege.&rdquo; He said the initiative would be funded through increased taxes on corporations and the city&rsquo;s wealthiest residents. Trump&rsquo;s latest post, &ldquo;AND SO IT BEGINS,&rdquo; marked a continuation of his long-running hostility toward Mamdani. During the campaign, Trump had repeatedly attacked him, calling him &ldquo;a 100% communist lunatic&rdquo; and &ldquo;not very smart.&rdquo; In previous statements, Trump warned he would withhold federal funds from New York if Mamdani became mayor. &ldquo;If you have a communist running New York, all you&rsquo;re doing is wasting money sending it there,&rdquo; he said at a rally, urging voters to back Mamdani&rsquo;s rival, former Governor Andrew Cuomo. Trump has also mocked Mamdani&rsquo;s appearance and intelligence, once telling CBS&rsquo;s 60 Minutes that he was &ldquo;much better looking&rdquo; than the new mayor. When interviewer Norah O&rsquo;Donnell referred to Mamdani as a socialist, Trump interjected, &ldquo;Communist, not a socialist &mdash; he&rsquo;s far worse than a socialist.&rdquo; In his previous statements, Trump had warned that Mamdani could face arrest if he interfered with federal immigration operations. Responding to Mamdani&rsquo;s pledge to prevent masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from &ldquo;deporting our neighbors,&rdquo; Trump said at a news conference, &ldquo;Well, then, we&rsquo;ll have to arrest him.&rdquo; Could the exchange signal an impending clash between Mamdani&rsquo;s left-wing populism and Trump&rsquo;s conservative resurgence ahead of the next presidential election cycle, setting the stage for a potentially volatile relationship between City Hall and Washington?

Trump's post comes after Mamdani directly challenged Trump in his remarks, saying, “If anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him.”

Trump targets newly elected New York mayor Zohran Mamdani after fiery victory speech

Gaitty Ara Anis

WASHINGTON: New York City takes the world&#39;s political center stage as it approaches its mayoral election on Tuesday, with over 750,000 votes already cast through early voting. New York City, home to 8.7 million people, faces a stark political choice among three candidates: charismatic democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, Republican Curtis Sliwa, and seasoned independent Andrew Cuomo. Mamdani currently leads by double digits in all major surveys. If victorious, he would make history as the city&#39;s first self-declared democratic socialist and its first Muslim mayor. According to experts, Mamdani is up against two less-than-bright candidates. Cuomo has little chance due to his past scandals, and Sliwa is not very popular. American Dream personified&quot;He is presenting the classic American dream,&quot; said Jahangir Khattak, an academic and New Yorker. Mamdani, born in Uganda to South Asian parents, is a foreign-born immigrant in a city where 40% of the population was born abroad. His ethnic and immigrant background serves as a powerful symbol of New York&#39;s diversity, providing the foundation for his inclusive vision, promoted with the slogan &quot;Roti and Roses.&quot; Youth and immigrant supportMamdani&#39;s meteoric rise depends heavily on young voters &mdash; particularly Gen Z New Yorkers and immigrants &mdash; who view him as &quot;an authentic and long-overdue break&quot; from the political establishment. Muslim voter baseThe city boasts a large and growing Muslim population of around 1 million. According to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, more than 300,000 Muslims are registered voters among the city&#39;s 5.1 million registered voters, providing a critical base of support for the first Muslim mayoral candidate. Policy platformMamdani&#39;s core platform promises a steep economic shift to ensure affordability for working-class New Yorkers. His key proposals include a rent freeze for stabilized units, fare-free city buses, and universal childcare, all funded by raising income and corporate taxes on the wealthiest. &quot;If Mamdani wins, it will be because of his ideas to work for the benefit of the working class,&quot; says Khattak, who believes that for a working-class person, &quot;saving a single dollar&quot; means a lot daily. However, the agenda is &quot;radical and ambitious,&quot; and &quot;these are still promises that need to be seen how they materialize,&quot; Khattak emphasized.&nbsp; Many projects are at the grassroots level but will undoubtedly require &quot;federal funding at some point,&quot; noted Dr Sohail Khalid, an expert on international affairs. Anti-Zionist positionMamdani&#39;s unapologetic anti-Zionist stance and intense criticism of the Israeli government have become a powerful rallying point for the progressive and younger electorate. He has consistently spoken out against what he calls the &quot;genocidal war&quot; in Gaza, saying the struggle there is &quot;tied to capitalist interests over here.&quot; Netanyahu arrest pledgeMamdani has said that if elected, he would arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should he visit the city. The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu in November 2024, accusing him of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Israel-Hamas war. However, analysts note that &quot;New York is the bastion of Jewish population&quot; and believe Mamdani&#39;s statement is extreme, with actually arresting the Israeli prime minister &quot;almost impossible.&quot; Political fallout&quot;Mamdani, if he wins, will have to defeat many Democrats as well,&quot; Dr Khalid pointed out, as a considerable chunk of Democrats is siding with Cuomo due to Mamdani&#39;s anti-Israel stance. Despite this, Mamdani has backing from prominent Jewish and ethnic politicians, including Bernie Sanders and former President Barack Obama. Immigration policy clash?A Mamdani victory would set the stage for immediate conflict with President Trump&#39;s administration. Trump has made mass deportation a central policy, defending aggressive Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) tactics and asserting that enforcement actions &quot;haven&#39;t gone far enough.&quot; Mamdani has pledged to defy federal immigration policies, announcing plans to transform New York City into an &quot;impregnable shield against ICE activities.&quot; He vowed that, &quot;We&#39;re taking every step we can to keep New Yorkers safe, to keep New Yorkers together, and to show the world that they are welcome in this city.&quot; Federal funding at riskPresident Trump has relentlessly attacked Mamdani, labeling him a &quot;communist,&quot; and warned that a Mamdani mayoralty would face &quot;problems with Washington like no mayor in the history of our once great city.&quot; Khattak fears a triumphant Mamdani would put the city in &quot;direct confrontation&quot; with Trump, who opposes Mamdani&#39;s socialist ideas and controls the &quot;federal purse strings.&quot; The Cuomo factorFormer Governor Andrew Cuomo, technically an independent candidate representing the centrist Democratic status quo, has repeatedly attacked Mamdani&#39;s inexperience and policy proposals as reckless and unrealistic. Challenging Mamdani&#39;s leadership capacity, Cuomo has asserted, &quot;This is no job for on-the-job training.&quot; He argues that his own prior experience dealing with the federal government makes him the only candidate who can protect the billions in federal funds the city depends on. In response, Mamdani has repeatedly pointed out Cuomo&#39;s past scandals and questioned his &quot;integrity&quot; as a politician. What&#39;s at stakeA Mamdani victory would not only dramatically reshape New York&#39;s political economy with sweeping social programs but also set the stage for an unprecedented legal and political showdown between a democratic socialist city hall and the Republican White House over the rights and safety of immigrants, even as the city faces continuous criticism from President Trump himself. The question remains: What would this win mean for New Yorkers, and how would it affect the broader political landscape in the deeply divided USA?

According to the city government, more than 750,000 votes have already been cast through early voting; Zohran Mamdani is currently showing a double-digit lead in all major surveys.

NYC's political choice: democratic socialist Mamdani, Republican Sliwa, or independent Cuomo?

NEW YORK: Zohran Mamdani may not solve all of the beleaguered US Democrats&#39; problems, but the surprise frontrunner in the race for New York mayor does offer hints on how to win back voters and power. The Democrats -- shut out of power in the White House and both chambers of Congress -- are seen negatively by 63% of US voters, according to a July poll in the Wall Street Journal, the party&#39;s lowest approval rating in 30 years. John Kane, a professor of political science at New York University, said the party needs to reconnect with its traditional base, including lower-income Americans and young voters. Freeze on rent hikes&nbsp;Mamdani, a 34-year-old self-described democratic socialist, has developed a plan to lure working-class people and young adults, for whom famously expensive New York is becoming harder and harder to call home. His platform&#39;s highlights include a freeze on rent hikes, free bus service, and day care. Mamdani&#39;s opposition to President Donald Trump has a strong symbolic appeal for a Democratic base &quot;which feels almost entirely powerless in the present moment,&quot; Kane told AFP. Scandal-tainted Cuomo&nbsp;He has a more than 10-point lead over his main rival in the Nov. 4 election for mayor, former New York governor Andrew Cuomo, a scandal-tainted veteran Democrat who is running as an independent this time. &quot;Mamdani is evidence that the American left still has some juice in it in 2025,&quot; said Daniel Schlozman, a political science professor at Johns Hopkins University. But New York -- America&#39;s biggest city and an ethnically diverse, historically Democratic one -- does not reflect the United States as a whole, Schlozman said. And while enthusiasm over Mamdani is one thing, his success is &quot;a very different matter from Democrats at large winning the elections they need to win to take control of the House next year, maybe the Senate, and the presidency in 2028,&quot; he added. National electorate&nbsp;Schlozman said Mamdani is a compelling leader who understands that affordability issues in New York are critical, but cautioned that the national electorate is probably not ready for his policies. Democrats would need to address affordability in a very different way from him to satisfy voters even in other Democratic-leaning states, much less swing states that can go either way, he continued. Kane also said that outside large cities, where people are used to seeing all kinds of nationalities and heritages, Mamdani&#39;s origin and religion and his past statements calling the police &quot;racist&quot; might fail to win over some voters. The candidate was born in Uganda to a Muslim family of Indian origin and became a US citizen in 2018. <h2 style="line-height: 2;">&#39;Right message, wrong messenger&#39;&nbsp;</h2>Then there is also the risk of Republicans seizing on Mamdani to ridicule Democratic policies, just as Trump has dismissed him as a &quot;little communist&quot; who is too willing to spend taxpayer money. Many in the party &quot;might regard Mamdani as a case of right message, wrong messenger,&quot; said Kane in reference to Mamdani&#39;s policies. Most moderates in the Democratic Party, such as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who is from New York, have so far abstained from endorsing Mamdani. &quot;Some moderate Democrats may shy away from Mamdani based on policy stances, while others shy away simply because they don&#39;t view him as an electable candidate at the national level,&quot; said Kane. Cannot run for presidentIndeed, political experts say that New York differs enough from the rest of the US that it is not necessarily the best place for a Democrat to launch a national campaign. In any case, Mamdani could only go so high in US politics -- since he was not born in the United States, he cannot run for president.

Mamdani has developed a plan to lure the working class; he espouses a rent freeze, free bus service, and day care. Could he one day run for president?

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