Amanda Gorman says she ‘absolutely' wants to run for president in 2036
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NBC News
2 days ago
- NBC News
Amanda Gorman says she ‘absolutely' wants to run for president in 2036
In a Meet the Moment conversation, poet Amanda Gorman tells Kristen Welker that she has been thinking about running for president ever since she was in sixth 6, 2025
Daily Mail
30-06-2025
- Daily Mail
NYC's 'communist' mayoral hopeful refuses to condemn lightning rod phrase during painful on-air interview
New York City mayoral hopeful Zohran Mamdani repeatedly refused to condemn the phrase 'globalize the intifada' in a painful on-air interview. Mamdani, 33, a self-described socialist who won the Democratic primary for the mayorship last week, dodged the question several times when grilled by NBC's Kristen Welker over his views on the inflammatory phrase. 'Globalize the intifada' is considered by many to be a call for violence against Israeli and Jewish people around the world, and has often been heard chanted at anti-Israel protests in the US, including Mamdani's own rallies. In an appearance on NBC's Meet the Press, Mamdani repeatedly said he was not comfortable 'banning' the phrase, which was not what Welker asked, leading the exasperated interviewer to ask: 'Why not just condemn it?' 'That's not language that I use,' Mamdani said. 'The language that I use and the language that I will continue to use to lead this city is that which speaks clearly to my intent, which is an intent grounded in a belief in universal human rights. 'And ultimately, that's what is the foundation of so much of my politics, the belief that freedom and justice and safety are things that, to have meaning, have to be applied to all people, and that includes Israelis and Palestinians as well.' Mamdani has faced growing backlash following his surprise win in the Democratic primary, compounded by his plans to raise taxes on 'whiter neighborhoods', defund the police, and open government-run grocery stores. In the interview with Welker, she brought up Mamdani's past refusal to condemn 'globalize the intifada' on several other media appearances. When asked earlier this month on The Bulwark podcast about the phrase, he said he saw it as one that captured 'a desperate desire for equality and equal rights in standing up for Palestinian human rights.' After Mamdani dodged Welker's first question about the phrase, she asked him again: 'But do you actually condemn it? 'I think that's the question and the outstanding issue that a number of people, both of the Jewish faith and beyond, have. Do you condemn that phrase, 'globalize the intifada,' which a lot of people hear as a call to violence against Jews?' Welker asked. Mamdani responded: 'I've heard from many Jewish New Yorkers who have shared their concerns with me, especially in light of the horrific attacks that we saw in Washington, D.C. and in Boulder, Colorado about this moment of antisemitism in our country and in our city. 'And I've heard those fears, and I've had those conversations. And ultimately, they are part and parcel of why, in my campaign, I've put forward a commitment to increase funding for anti-hate crime programming by 800%.' Exploiting the Museum and the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising to sanitize 'globalize the intifada' is outrageous and especially offensive to survivors. Since 1987 Jews have been attacked and murdered under its banner. All leaders must condemn its use and the abuse of history. — US Holocaust Museum (@HolocaustMuseum) June 18, 2025 Mamdani also claimed that the word 'intifada' has been 'used by the Holocaust Museum when translating the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising into Arabic', a remark that led to a blistering rebuke from The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. In an X post, the museum wrote: 'Exploiting the Museum and the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising to sanitize 'globalize the intifada' is outrageous and especially offensive to survivors. Since 1987 Jews have been attacked and murdered under its banner. All leaders must condemn its use and the abuse of history.' Mamdani referred to President Trump's detention of pro-Palestinian protester Mahmoud Khalil as an example of how he doesn't 'believe that the role of the mayor is to police speech.' 'And we have to root out that bigotry, and ultimately we do that through the actions. And that is the mayor I will be, one that protects Jewish New Yorkers and lives up to that commitment through the work that I do.' Welker asked again: 'But very quickly for the people who care about the language and who feel really concerned by that phrase, why not just condemn it?' Although he was not asked about banning the phrase, Mamdani repeated his belief that he does not think that as mayor he should discuss 'what language I believe is permissible or impermissible.' 'Ultimately, it's not language that I use. It's language I understand there are concerns about. And what I will do is showcase my vision for this city through my words and my actions.' The car-crash interview responses came as Mamdani has faced growing pressure to condemn the phrase, with New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand slamming the mayoral hopeful in an interview on Thursday. Speaking to WNYC radio host Brian Lehrer on Thursday, Gillibrand said the phrase calls for the 'slaughter of the jews', and said she finds Mamdani 'alarming.' Democratic House leader Hakeem Jeffries also spoke out against Mamdani this week, telling ABC's This Week that the phrase is 'not acceptable.' The 33-year-old has faced mounting questions about his experience since he gained traction and ultimately won the Democratic primary, with his only public service work coming as a state assemblyman. In the state assembly, Mamdani promoted few bills, and his legislative record includes co-sponsoring bills requiring prisons to house inmates based on their self-declared gender, preventing law enforcement from asking about a perp's immigration status, and forcing small businesses to make their product packaging eco-friendly. Mamdani has described himself as 'Trump's worst nightmare', and his far-left policy platform sharply divided the nation as he gained traction in the mayor's race. He says he wants to raise taxes on the top one percent of New York earners - something the mayor does not have the authority to do - and make a number of city services free including childcare and buses. The city assemblyman has also proposed spending $65 million on transgender care, including for minors, freezing rent on rent-stabilized apartments, and creating city-owned grocery stores. He has also advocated for defunding the city's police department, defended pro- Palestine slogans like 'globalize the intifada' - which critics say is an anti-Semitic call for the destruction of Israel - and said he would arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
NBC News
29-06-2025
- NBC News
Zohran Mamdani says 'I don't think we should have billionaires'
Zohran Mamdani, the presumptive Democratic nominee for mayor in New York City, on Sunday said that he doesn't believe billionaires should exist. Asked directly whether billionaires should have a right to exist, Mamdani, who identifies himself as a Democratic socialist, told NBC News' "Meet the Press," 'I don't think that we should have billionaires because, frankly, it is so much money in a moment of such inequality, and ultimately, what we need more of is equality across our city and across our state and across our country.' 'And I look forward to working with everyone, including billionaires, to make a city that is fair for all of them,' he added. His remarks come as some wealthy people in New York City soured on Mamdani in the days after it became clear that he would be the presumptive nominee. Bill Ackman, a billionaire hedge fund manager who has backed President Donald Trump in the past, on Thursday pledged to use his money to bankroll a challenger to Mamdani in the general election. "[Mamdani's] policies would be disastrous for NYC. Socialism has no place in the economic capital of our country. The ability for NYC to offer services for the poor and needy, let alone the average New Yorker, is entirely dependent on NYC being a business-friendly environment and a place where wealthy residents are willing to spend 183 days and assume the associated tax burden," Ackman wrote in a post on X. "Importantly, there are hundreds of million of dollars of capital available to back a competitor to Mamdani that can be put together overnight (believe me, I am in the text strings and the WhatsApp groups) so that a great alternative candidate won't spend any time raising funds. So, if the right candidate would raise his or her hand tomorrow, the funds will pour in," he added. On Sunday, Mamdani also spoke about his plans to raise taxes on the wealthiest people living in the Big Apple, telling "Meet the Press" moderator Kristen Welker, "Ultimately, the reason I want to increase these taxes on the top one percent, the most profitable corporations, is to increase quality of life for everyone, including those who are going to be taxed." He credited his plan to raise taxes on the wealthy as one of the key tenets of his platform, which helped him win the primary. "We're seeing that our vision to tax the top one percent of New Yorkers -- these are New Yorkers who make a million dollars a year or more -- and our proposal is to just tax them by two percent additional is something that has broad support and we'll continue to increase that support over the next few months." Mamdani has also faced critics — including President Donald Trump — who call him a communist. 'I am not' a communist," Mamdani said on Sunday, in response to a question about Trump's comments. On Sunday, in a separate interview on Fox News that was taped Friday, Trump again spoke about Mamdani, making a threat to pull federal funding from New York City if the next mayor doesn't 'do the right thing.' 'But let's say this, if he does get in, I'm going to be president, and he's going to have to do the right thing, or they're not getting any money, he's got to do the right thing,' the president told Fox News' Maria Bartiromo. 'I have already had to start to get used to, get used to the fact that the president will talk about how I look, how I sound, where I'm from, who I am, ultimately, because he wants to distract from what I'm fighting for, and I'm fighting for the very working people that he ran a campaign to empower, that he has since then betrayed,' Mamdani added. A key focus of Mamdani's campaign was speaking about affordability and the economy, a point that he made on "Meet the Press" Sunday when asked about why he thought he won. "It was the focus on the fact that we live in the most expensive city in the United States of America. It's also the wealthiest city in the wealthiest country in the history of the world, and yet, one in four New Yorkers are living in poverty, and the rest are seemingly trapped in a state of anxiety," Mamdani said. He added, "And what we've seen is that this is a city that needs to be affordable for the people who build it every day. Our focus was on exactly that, and by keeping that focus on an economic agenda, we showed New Yorkers that this could be more than just a museum of what once was. It could be a living, breathing testament to possibility."
