Mayor Elect Zohran Mamdani and NYC

HughFreakingDillon · November 28

Go Beavers said:

Lerxst1992 said:

brianlux said:

But anyway, this... this is sane thinking. This is a clear and accurate rundown written by Bruce Fanger of what went down in that meeting:

Thirty Minutes in the Lion’s Den: The Interview Trump Thought He Controlled
White Rose USA — November
There’s a strange thing that happens when you watch the full thirty-minute interview instead of the clipped version the internet tosses around. The edges soften. The masks slip. And you start to see the actual geometry of the interaction — where power sits, where insecurity leaks, where the tone changes, where the truth speaks by accident. The viral clip makes it look like a moment. The full meeting reveals a dynamic.
This wasn’t a showdown. It wasn’t a humiliation. It wasn’t a triumph for either man. It was something far more revealing: a case study in how a bully behaves when he can’t rely on fear, and how a principled politician behaves when he refuses the role of the victim.
The meeting begins as all Trump meetings do — with noise.
The first five minutes are pure Trump: monologues disguised as greetings, numbers inflated beyond physics, scattered recollections of the 1980s like the era froze and preserved him in amber. You can practically hear his brain flipping through its greatest hits, trying to set the tone: This is my room. My chair. My story.
But Mamdani doesn’t react to any of it.
And that is the first hinge of the meeting.
A man like Trump needs emotional feedback to function. Fear works. Flattery works. Even anger works. Mamdani gives him nothing. He sits there with the calm of someone who refuses to let the other person set the emotional tempo. It’s a small thing, but with Trump, it’s enough to break the cycle.
Then comes the shift — the “gracious Trump” phase.
People mistake this for maturity or diplomacy. It’s not. It’s a reflex Trump only deploys when he can’t dominate the room. The tone goes soft, the eyebrows lift, the compliments come out in forced, syrupy bursts.
“You’re doing great work.”
“New York is lucky to have you.”
“You’re a very smart guy.”
It sounds statesmanlike until you remember the same man called him a communist threat two weeks earlier. What’s happening here isn’t respect — it’s adaptation. A chameleon trying to match the color of the wall.
Trump is gracious when graciousness benefits Trump.
As Mamdani shifts to policy, Trump drifts into autobiography.
This is the most telling stretch — minutes twelve to eighteen. Mamdani tries to talk like a mayor-elect:
transit
housing
Rikers
federal cooperation
immigrant protections
Real issues, real stakes, real governance.
Trump responds by vanishing into his own mythology. Crime statistics from memory that don’t exist. Grievances about prosecutors. Stories from “the old days.” Complaints about how unfairly he’s been treated.
It’s not sabotage — it’s incapacity.
Mamdani is speaking a civic language Trump’s brain can’t decode.
They aren’t having the same conversation.
They aren’t even on the same continent.
Then comes the moment everyone’s dissecting — the “fascistic tendencies” line.
And yes, it happened in the room, not after. Mamdani doesn’t weaponize the word. He doesn’t turn it into a headline. He does something more dangerous: he analytically names the pattern.
Immigrant raids.
Political retribution.
Targeting dissent.
Erosion of checks and balances.
Threats against the judiciary.
He lays out the evidence and names the behavior: fascistic tendencies.
Trump nods and smiles like someone being told he has an excellent golf swing.
It’s not bravado. It’s not denial.
It’s something almost sadder: he doesn’t understand the language of critique unless it’s blunt and emotional. Mamdani moved the discussion into the realm of political analysis, and Trump’s instincts don’t live there. So he simply… accepts it. Not because he agrees, but because he can’t absorb what the words actually mean.
The last ten minutes are the clearest portrait of Trump’s psyche.
Once Mamdani refuses to bend, Trump compensates by overcorrecting into flattery:
“You’re going to surprise people.”
“I feel very comfortable with you.”
“We’re going to get along great.”
It’s dominance disguised as benevolence. When Trump can’t conquer, he tries to adopt. He folds the other person into his narrative: You and I are the same. We’re allies. You approve of me. I approve of you.
It’s a kind of political camouflage — digest the threat by complimenting it.
Mamdani doesn’t take the bait.
He doesn’t fight.
He doesn’t flatter.
He just continues speaking plainly.
Which leaves Trump in the one position he hates most:
performing civility for an audience that isn’t fooled.
What the meeting really showed
The full interview isn’t about Mamdani calling Trump a fascist.
It’s not about Trump pretending to be gracious.
It’s not about a progressive mayor meeting an authoritarian president.
What the meeting showed is simpler and more damning:
Trump is only powerful when the room fears him.
Take the fear away, and he becomes oddly gentle, strangely polite, and completely unable to dominate the conversation.
People think tyrants rage because they’re strong.
But the truth is they only rage when they know the room will absorb it.
Mamdani didn’t absorb it.
So Trump didn’t rage.
He folded.
Nicely. Neatly.
Like a man who knows the cameras are watching and doesn’t want the world to see what he looks like when the mask cracks.
And if there’s a lesson here for the rest of the country, it’s this:
Fear is the oxygen of authoritarianism.
Take it away, and even a strongman starts to sound like a man.

Mamdani figured out what every other highly visible democrat refuses to believe, just kiss the damn ring. He is only potus for three more years, kiss the ring, fight for your policies over his, and let the three year clock run out.

That’s not kissing the ring. That’s called how to play an ineffective, insecure leader with Narcissistic Personality Disorder.

I was too dumbfounded by that comment to even respond to it when I saw it. Kissing the ring. hahahaha

josevolution · December 1

https://apple.news/AHL60ItwwTWWPr8jKHiEErg

Oh no Seattle too wtf both NY and Seattle will crumble 😭😭 I wonder if Ed & boys will pack up and head South or to Tejas

Lerxst1992 · December 3

HughFreakingDillon said:

Go Beavers said:

Lerxst1992 said:

brianlux said:

But anyway, this... this is sane thinking. This is a clear and accurate rundown written by Bruce Fanger of what went down in that meeting:

Thirty Minutes in the Lion’s Den: The Interview Trump Thought He Controlled
White Rose USA — November
There’s a strange thing that happens when you watch the full thirty-minute interview instead of the clipped version the internet tosses around. The edges soften. The masks slip. And you start to see the actual geometry of the interaction — where power sits, where insecurity leaks, where the tone changes, where the truth speaks by accident. The viral clip makes it look like a moment. The full meeting reveals a dynamic.
This wasn’t a showdown. It wasn’t a humiliation. It wasn’t a triumph for either man. It was something far more revealing: a case study in how a bully behaves when he can’t rely on fear, and how a principled politician behaves when he refuses the role of the victim.
The meeting begins as all Trump meetings do — with noise.
The first five minutes are pure Trump: monologues disguised as greetings, numbers inflated beyond physics, scattered recollections of the 1980s like the era froze and preserved him in amber. You can practically hear his brain flipping through its greatest hits, trying to set the tone: This is my room. My chair. My story.
But Mamdani doesn’t react to any of it.
And that is the first hinge of the meeting.
A man like Trump needs emotional feedback to function. Fear works. Flattery works. Even anger works. Mamdani gives him nothing. He sits there with the calm of someone who refuses to let the other person set the emotional tempo. It’s a small thing, but with Trump, it’s enough to break the cycle.
Then comes the shift — the “gracious Trump” phase.
People mistake this for maturity or diplomacy. It’s not. It’s a reflex Trump only deploys when he can’t dominate the room. The tone goes soft, the eyebrows lift, the compliments come out in forced, syrupy bursts.
“You’re doing great work.”
“New York is lucky to have you.”
“You’re a very smart guy.”
It sounds statesmanlike until you remember the same man called him a communist threat two weeks earlier. What’s happening here isn’t respect — it’s adaptation. A chameleon trying to match the color of the wall.
Trump is gracious when graciousness benefits Trump.
As Mamdani shifts to policy, Trump drifts into autobiography.
This is the most telling stretch — minutes twelve to eighteen. Mamdani tries to talk like a mayor-elect:
transit
housing
Rikers
federal cooperation
immigrant protections
Real issues, real stakes, real governance.
Trump responds by vanishing into his own mythology. Crime statistics from memory that don’t exist. Grievances about prosecutors. Stories from “the old days.” Complaints about how unfairly he’s been treated.
It’s not sabotage — it’s incapacity.
Mamdani is speaking a civic language Trump’s brain can’t decode.
They aren’t having the same conversation.
They aren’t even on the same continent.
Then comes the moment everyone’s dissecting — the “fascistic tendencies” line.
And yes, it happened in the room, not after. Mamdani doesn’t weaponize the word. He doesn’t turn it into a headline. He does something more dangerous: he analytically names the pattern.
Immigrant raids.
Political retribution.
Targeting dissent.
Erosion of checks and balances.
Threats against the judiciary.
He lays out the evidence and names the behavior: fascistic tendencies.
Trump nods and smiles like someone being told he has an excellent golf swing.
It’s not bravado. It’s not denial.
It’s something almost sadder: he doesn’t understand the language of critique unless it’s blunt and emotional. Mamdani moved the discussion into the realm of political analysis, and Trump’s instincts don’t live there. So he simply… accepts it. Not because he agrees, but because he can’t absorb what the words actually mean.
The last ten minutes are the clearest portrait of Trump’s psyche.
Once Mamdani refuses to bend, Trump compensates by overcorrecting into flattery:
“You’re going to surprise people.”
“I feel very comfortable with you.”
“We’re going to get along great.”
It’s dominance disguised as benevolence. When Trump can’t conquer, he tries to adopt. He folds the other person into his narrative: You and I are the same. We’re allies. You approve of me. I approve of you.
It’s a kind of political camouflage — digest the threat by complimenting it.
Mamdani doesn’t take the bait.
He doesn’t fight.
He doesn’t flatter.
He just continues speaking plainly.
Which leaves Trump in the one position he hates most:
performing civility for an audience that isn’t fooled.
What the meeting really showed
The full interview isn’t about Mamdani calling Trump a fascist.
It’s not about Trump pretending to be gracious.
It’s not about a progressive mayor meeting an authoritarian president.
What the meeting showed is simpler and more damning:
Trump is only powerful when the room fears him.
Take the fear away, and he becomes oddly gentle, strangely polite, and completely unable to dominate the conversation.
People think tyrants rage because they’re strong.
But the truth is they only rage when they know the room will absorb it.
Mamdani didn’t absorb it.
So Trump didn’t rage.
He folded.
Nicely. Neatly.
Like a man who knows the cameras are watching and doesn’t want the world to see what he looks like when the mask cracks.
And if there’s a lesson here for the rest of the country, it’s this:
Fear is the oxygen of authoritarianism.
Take it away, and even a strongman starts to sound like a man.

Mamdani figured out what every other highly visible democrat refuses to believe, just kiss the damn ring. He is only potus for three more years, kiss the ring, fight for your policies over his, and let the three year clock run out.

That’s not kissing the ring. That’s called how to play an ineffective, insecure leader with Narcissistic Personality Disorder.

I was too dumbfounded by that comment to even respond to it when I saw it. Kissing the ring. hahahaha

Yep.

HughFreakingDillon · December 3

then you really don't understand what kissing the ring actually means.

Lerxst1992 · December 3

Repurposing a figure of speech. Hyperbole to drive home a political point. I give Mamdani credit, he knows how to play politics…so far. He played that meeting skillfully. Still not sold on nyc corporations paying nearly 20% corp rates including state and MCTD rates.

gimmesometruth27 · December 3

Lerxst1992 said:

Repurposing a figure of speech. Hyperbole to drive home a political point. I give Mamdani credit, he knows how to play politics…so far. He played that meeting skillfully. Still not sold on nyc corporations paying nearly 20% corp rates including state and MCTD rates.

he isn't trying to sell YOU on it.

he won his election. he will be responsible for what happens.

i am still waiting to see how his win will destroy democrats in 2026.

Halifax2TheMax · December 3

gimmesometruth27 said:

Lerxst1992 said:

Repurposing a figure of speech. Hyperbole to drive home a political point. I give Mamdani credit, he knows how to play politics…so far. He played that meeting skillfully. Still not sold on nyc corporations paying nearly 20% corp rates including state and MCTD rates.

he isn't trying to sell YOU on it.

he won his election. he will be responsible for what happens.

i am still waiting to see how his win will destroy democrats in 2026.

* The following opinion is mine and mine alone and does not represent the views of my family, friends, government and/or my past, present or future employer. US Department of State: 1-888-407-4747.

And lead NYC to a 1975 Ford Administration fall down go boom era.

Hey, but I hear Miami is pretty nice, particularly South Beach.

Lerxst1992 · December 3

gimmesometruth27 said:

Lerxst1992 said:

Repurposing a figure of speech. Hyperbole to drive home a political point. I give Mamdani credit, he knows how to play politics…so far. He played that meeting skillfully. Still not sold on nyc corporations paying nearly 20% corp rates including state and MCTD rates.

he isn't trying to sell YOU on it.

he won his election. he will be responsible for what happens.

i am still waiting to see how his win will destroy democrats in 2026.

My point is local and state corp rates close to 20% is a bit absurd, and he outright lied about it in the campaign. Doubling what a municipality receives from corps is playing with fire. But it’s easy for pols to lie about taxes because few understand them. Y’all can joke about 1975, but it’s a damn good example of govt overreach, high taxes and unforeseen implications.

His win has little to do with 2026, his plans will take far longer to take hold, either positive or negative. The midterms for the house should be an easy win for the Dems, the senate imo is nearly impossible, unless you think Dems could be competitive in states in regions like yours.

Tim Simmons · December 4

The macro conditions have changed so much that the Senate is a very real possibility. That SE in TN the other night if a very good canary in the coal mine.

gimmesometruth27 · December 4

Tim Simmons said:

The macro conditions have changed so much that the Senate is a very real possibility. That SE in TN the other night if a very good canary in the coal mine.

she lost by 9 points. trump won that district by 20+ points. even if you knock that down in half it is still an electoral drubbing in a ruby red district. the gop is safe in places like that. if trump won a district by say +5 then they are in trouble. but never forget that republicans always come home and they always vote.

Tim Simmons · December 4

It’s a L for sure, but it’s a W on the whole. Trump won that district by 22 a year ago. And all they could muster was +9?

Not good Bob. Extrapolate that out to the Macro environment. People aren’t happy with Republican governance. That’s the story. Add in a non presidential year when Trump isn’t on the ballot, but his policies and successes but more importantly failures, will be.

Lean rights and toss ups will shift hard the other way.

Lerxst1992 · December 4

Tim Simmons said:

It’s a L for sure, but it’s a W on the whole. Trump won that district by 22 a year ago. And all they could muster was +9?

Not good Bob. Extrapolate that out to the Macro environment. People aren’t happy with Republican governance. That’s the story. Add in a non presidential year when Trump isn’t on the ballot, but his policies and successes but more importantly failures, will be.

Lean rights and toss ups will shift hard the other way.

Not sure I should keep the auto renew off. This forum is very instrumental in helping me understand when democrats lose elections they should win. They seem to forget about recent history. Leads into the poor messaging and all.

didnt we just go thru this 2021 to 2023, when in special elections democrats over performed by twelve points? It literally just happened and ended with a major loss last year.

what occurs in off year elections is one side doesn’t show up. That’s what we saw then, and saw in TN this week. The only way that state is relevant to the senate is if Dems can win that state, or any similar one. If there was a blue wave in TN, not only would have Dems pulled off the upset, but their vote totals would be competitive with on year elections.

And Ive learned here how Dems think. There could be a northerner or two who harps on “doesn’t show up” and argues that literally republicans showed up so my point is invalid. Same as using the “kiss the ring” comment with Mamdani. It’s an imperfect analogy but it drives home the point. So the conversation is lost on semantics. That’s this place lol.

Often political strength is not based on a literal understanding. Trump understood that in 2015 and changed politics more than any other in recent decades. But lest just blame racism and forget about any lessons that cou
kd be learned.

Dems have three red state senate seats to win back, four swing seats with three retirements to hold, and four more again to hold two years later. While the Rs have zero challenging seats to hold, outside of perhaps NC.

https://democrats.org/news/icymi-the-down-ballot-democrats-just-turned-in-the-biggest-overperformance-in-a-special-election-this-year/

HughFreakingDillon · December 4

kiss the ring wasn't an imperfect analogy. it was 100% wrong.

unless to you kiss the ring means let the orange fool stumble all over himself praising me while I sit there and smirk and just let the buffoon speak.

Gern Blansten · December 4

Tim Simmons said:

It’s a L for sure, but it’s a W on the whole. Trump won that district by 22 a year ago. And all they could muster was +9?

Not good Bob. Extrapolate that out to the Macro environment. People aren’t happy with Republican governance. That’s the story. Add in a non presidential year when Trump isn’t on the ballot, but his policies and successes but more importantly failures, will be.

Lean rights and toss ups will shift hard the other way.

I can tell you that people in Indiana are not happy with Mike Braun bowing down to trump and his redistricting bullshit. And I don't just mean the dem voices.

I'm surprised in a sense but for the Gov of IN to publicly say that we need to redistrict in order to be "fair" when 7 of the 9 districts (78%) are held by GOP is just stupid.

Tim Simmons · December 4

Lerxst1992 said:

Tim Simmons said:

It’s a L for sure, but it’s a W on the whole. Trump won that district by 22 a year ago. And all they could muster was +9?

Not good Bob. Extrapolate that out to the Macro environment. People aren’t happy with Republican governance. That’s the story. Add in a non presidential year when Trump isn’t on the ballot, but his policies and successes but more importantly failures, will be.

Lean rights and toss ups will shift hard the other way.

what occurs in off year elections is one side doesn’t show up. That’s what we saw then, and saw in TN this week.

But that wasn't the case in the SE in TN. Turnout was on par with the last midterm turnout, where the GOP won by 22%.

if you are reading the tea leaves, it shows tremendous dissatisfaction with Republican control. That stuff scales up for bigger races. The leftward shift is a real threat to GOP candidates.

Gern Blansten · December 5

Tim Simmons said:

Lerxst1992 said:

Tim Simmons said:

It’s a L for sure, but it’s a W on the whole. Trump won that district by 22 a year ago. And all they could muster was +9?

Not good Bob. Extrapolate that out to the Macro environment. People aren’t happy with Republican governance. That’s the story. Add in a non presidential year when Trump isn’t on the ballot, but his policies and successes but more importantly failures, will be.

Lean rights and toss ups will shift hard the other way.

what occurs in off year elections is one side doesn’t show up. That’s what we saw then, and saw in TN this week.

But that wasn't the case in the SE in TN. Turnout was on par with the last midterm turnout, where the GOP won by 22%.

if you are reading the tea leaves, it shows tremendous dissatisfaction with Republican control. That stuff scales up for bigger races. The leftward shift is a real threat to GOP candidates.

yeah and it might be 50/50 for Johnson to get the boot soon

Lerxst1992 · December 5

HughFreakingDillon said:

kiss the ring wasn't an imperfect analogy. it was 100% wrong.

unless to you kiss the ring means let the orange fool stumble all over himself praising me while I sit there and smirk and just let the buffoon speak.

Good for that understanding right vs wrong analogies and idioms. But misunderstanding American politics. He knew to play to and respect trumps power, at this point in time, which is critical because POTUS can stop the impact of anything he wishes to accomplish in nyc

Call it what you wish as it’s irrelevant to the point, instead of this usual and pointless bickering to make yerself fell better while y’all proving supreme greatness for making Robin Sparkles a star.

Lerxst1992 · December 5

Tim Simmons said:

Lerxst1992 said:

Tim Simmons said:

It’s a L for sure, but it’s a W on the whole. Trump won that district by 22 a year ago. And all they could muster was +9?

Not good Bob. Extrapolate that out to the Macro environment. People aren’t happy with Republican governance. That’s the story. Add in a non presidential year when Trump isn’t on the ballot, but his policies and successes but more importantly failures, will be.

Lean rights and toss ups will shift hard the other way.

what occurs in off year elections is one side doesn’t show up. That’s what we saw then, and saw in TN this week.

But that wasn't the case in the SE in TN. Turnout was on par with the last midterm turnout, where the GOP won by 22%.

if you are reading the tea leaves, it shows tremendous dissatisfaction with Republican control. That stuff scales up for bigger races. The leftward shift is a real threat to GOP candidates.

That 13 point swing isn’t enough to flip the TN senate seat even if it was statewide. Didn’t the Dems “overperform” the last midterms? Still…they fell 30,000 votes short of what was needed to win the seat that year with this years turnout. This is the Dems version of fantasy maga politics.

Dems need to flip R seat states to win the senate. The two best are NC and ME. They’ve done well in the NC governors mansion but on a fairly solid losing streak for a senate seat there, 2008 being the most recent win.

ME would be a must win, and Dems were certain they had Collins beat in 2020 when she outperformed trump by nearly 20 point margin (+8 vs -9). And even if they can beat that spread, they have to find another two R seats to flip. The next closest states are OH and FL. Sounds like a good bet. Calling fanduel?

all while holding four swing seats with three retirements.

Tim Simmons · December 5

Thats some real doomerism vibes

Lerxst1992 · December 5

Tim Simmons said:

Thats some real doomerism vibes

It’s 100% looking at stats and election results. This attempt to “personalize” comments is a bizarre issue on this website.

Mayor Elect Zohran Mamdani and NYC

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