Zohran Mamdani wins NYC mayor’s race
Mamdani, 34, will be NYC’s first Muslim and South Asian mayor.
John Oliver is giving Zohran Mamdani his political flowers – and throwing some shade at his opponent.
The “Last Week Tonight” host, 48, praised the democratic socialist and newly elected New York City mayor for his historic election victory during the latest episode of his HBO talk show Sunday, Nov. 9.
Mamdani, 34, clinched the closely watched mayoral race on Nov. 4, becoming the first Muslim mayor and first Asian American mayor of the nation’s largest city. The state lawmaker won after a contentious campaign defined by Democratic infighting over his ambitious proposals and past criticisms of Israel and the New York Police Department.
“Tuesday was Election Day in many places, and Democrats did well across the board, including right here in New York, where Zohran Mamdani decisively won the mayoral race and took an entirely earned victory lap afterwards,” Oliver said.
Mamdani earned 50.4% of the vote, nine points off his next closest opponent, Andrew Cuomo with 41.6%. Cuomo, who served as governor of New York from 2011-2021, ran as an independent after losing to Mamdani in the Democratic primary.
In the days leading up to the election, Mamdani slammed Cuomo, 67, for interview remarks about him, which included a joke about the 9/11 terrorist attacks, with Mamdani criticizing the commentary as “disgusting” and “racist.”
John Oliver praises Zohran Mamdani for surviving ‘one of the most Islamophobic campaigns’
During his victory speech at the Brooklyn Paramount theater, Mamdani acknowledged his election opponent Andrew Cuomo after the pair’s contentious mayoral battle.
While Mamdani wished Cuomo “only the best in private life,” the New York City mayor added: “But let tonight be the final time I utter his name as we turn the page on politics that abandons the many and answers only to the few.”
During Sunday’s episode of “Last Week Tonight,” Oliver praised Mamdani for his speech, calling the forceful remarks “pretty satisfying.”
“Now, some actually criticized that speech, with Van Jones calling it sharp and a character switch from Mamdani’s tone during the campaign,” Oliver continued. “But that seems deeply unfair to me. He just weathered one of the most Islamophobic campaigns in recent memory.”
Oliver went on to blast Cuomo for his rhetoric on Mamdani, as well as the former governor’s use of artificial intelligence in his campaign ads.
“‘I wish Andrew Cuomo only the best in private life’ is a frankly superhuman level of grace to extend to a man who has yet to pronounce your name correctly once,” Oliver said. “Especially given that he could have said, ‘Andrew, your campaign was terrible. What was it with the weird AI ads?'”
Contributing: Eduardo Cuevas, USA TODAY
