'Instant Character Switch’: US Journalist Says Pre-Poll 'Warm, Open’ Mamdani Vanished After NYC Win

Left-leaning CNN commentator and journalist Van Jones said he was unimpressed by New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s victory speech, remarking that the “warm, open” city councilman of Indian and Ugandan heritage seemed to “disappear” soon after the results were declared on Tuesday night (local time).

“I felt like it was a little bit of a character switch here,” Jones said during a CNN programme, a clip of which has since gone viral on social media.

“I think he missed an opportunity. I think the Mamdani that we saw in 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.

That’s not the Mamdani that we’ve seen on Tiktok and the great interviews and stuff like that,” he told the panel present in the programme.

Jones, who served as an advisor to former US President Barack Obama, said, “There are a lot of people trying to figure out, ‘Can I get on this train with him or not? Is he going to include me? Is he going to be more of a class warrior even in office?’ I think he missed a chance tonight to open up and bring more people into the tent.”

Mamdani wasted no time calling out US President Donald Trump, formally kicking off the battle that will likely define relations between the 34-year-old mayor and the Republican whose celebrity is tied to the city.

“Donald Trump, since I know you’re watching, I have four words for you: turn the volume up!” Mamdani, said during the Tuesday night speech to a raucous crowd of supporters shortly after being declared the victor.

“If anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him,” Mamdani told supporters. “And if there is any way to terrify a despot, it is by dismantling the very conditions that allowed him to accumulate power. This is not only how we stop Trump, it’s how we stop the next one.”