Copyright The Hollywood Reporter
Just nine hours before the polls closed on Election Day in New York City, Zohran Mamdani walked into a crowded room full of dozens of NYC content creators and proceeded to answer a non-stop barrage of questions on everything from housing policy to childcare and LGBTQ rights. He deftly pivoted every question back to two topics: making New York City more affordable and encouraging people to get out and vote. Mamdani has become inescapable online, in part because of the influencers in that room, many of whom surrounded him hours later at the campaign’s official victory party in Brooklyn. His social media-optimized videos have amassed tens of millions of views. Content creators amplifying his message have reached hundreds of millions across every fathomable platform. Mamdani’s unprecedented ability to dominate the internet has led many to attribute his rise wholly to social media. “TikTok helped NYC elect a socialist,” Mark Dubowitz, CEO of the think tank The Foundation for Defense of Democracies, posted to X in June. Last month, when Andrew Cuomo was asked what he did wrong during his primary run, he responded, “I did not do enough on social media … I think the assemblyman did a better job on TikTok.” The success Mamdani has enjoyed online, however, is not as easy to replicate as many in the political establishment may like to believe, and strategists and content creators who helped deliver Mamdani the win are concerned that Democrats are already taking the wrong message from his victory. “The upcoming midterm cycle is going to be very funny,” leftist Twitch streamer Hasan Piker, who has supported Mamdani, posted to X. “Lots of politicians trying to do stuff like [Mamdani’s videos], not realizing why it isn’t hitting the same way.” “I think we’re about to watch every single politician try to replicate Zohran’s success,” said Adam Faze, founder of Gymnasium, a production company that produces video series for social media. “Politicians are realizing that if you can’t make noise for yourself on TikTok, YouTube and Instagram, you’ll likely never win a race again. We’re going to look back at Cuomo versus Zohran the same way we look at JFK versus Nixon in the first televised debate.” In the past few months, California Gov. Gavin Newsom has begun collaborating with livestreamers, recently hosting an off-the-record meetup with Twitch stars at Twitchcon. Democrat Saikat Chakrabarti, who is challenging Nancy Pelosi for her congressional seat in San Francisco, has been posting Mamdani-like Instagram videos. Even the DNC itself has launched a daily video series on YouTube. Many of these efforts have fallen flat. “The message the Democrats are taking [from Mamdani’s win] is the same one they took after [Kamala] Harris’ loss, which is that we need a left Joe Rogan,” said Brendan Gahan Founder of Creator Authority, an influencer marketing firm, who has done work with the Democratic party in the past. “They’re trying to manufacture and curate everything instead of investing in a grassroots approach.” The influencers who collaborated with Mamdani said they did so because of his goal of making New York City more affordable. “His online presence is really good, but it’s just the vehicle, not the gas,” said Christian Divyne, a content creator and theater artist in Brooklyn. Mamdani’s policies, Divyne explained, are the gas. “I fear that some Democrats and candidates everywhere are looking at this and thinking, ‘Let’s just do this online strategy,'” said Cassie Willson, a content creator and comedian in Brooklyn who was the first influencer to partner with Mamdani nearly a year ago. “And it’s like, you’ve got to have the policies to back it up.” Matt Bernstein, a Gen Z content creator based in Manhattan, said Mamdani’s TikTok and Instagram videos are just “window dressing to his policy proposals.” Those policy proposals include things like freezing the rent for some New Yorkers, making buses free, rolling out government-subsidized grocery stores and universal childcare. The influencers who boosted Mamdani said they did so because they felt inspired, a lot also canvassed for him. Many of the members of the collective Creators for Zohran, a group aimed at getting Mamdani elected, are working New Yorkers, not full-time influencers. Taiwan Green, a music producer in Queens who goes by MrFingz, said Mamdani reminded him of Bernie Sanders in how authentically he was able to speak to people instead of treating influencers as free marketing. “After following [Mamdani] for a couple weeks, I believe he really cares about people and I can feel that,” Green said. Sari Beth Rose, a public high school teacher in New York, said she used her platform to advocate for Mamdani because she believes in his educational proposals. “Yes, his TikToks are amazing,” she said, “but there’s substance behind that style. He’s focused on making New York City more affordable.” Mamdani’s message is intertwined with his online success, said Aidan Kohn-Murphy, the co-founder of Creators for Zohran. “In a moment when content creators are being paid tens of thousands of dollars to toe the party line, there could not be a clearer message of the importance of authenticity and sticking to affordability,” he said. Mamdani’s grassroots digital strategy also stood in stark contrast to Cuomo’s erratic AI-generated social media videos, one of which featured a pregnant cartoon bill wearing bright red lipstick lighting money on fire next to a cell phone emblazoned with the ChatGPT logo. Another AI-generated social media video from Cuomo sparked outrage online for its deeply racist imagery. The ad was later pulled down. Faze said that Mamdani’s sense of hope for a better future was amplified by average people too, not just influencers. “I couldn’t believe the amount of content that was generated for Zohran, and most if it wasn’t it wasn’t generated by him,” he said. Faze compared the final days of Mamdani’s campaign to Twitch streamer iShowspeed’s world tour, where the streamer was inundated by crowds as he maintained a punishing travel schedule. “With Speed, everyone wants to make their own content [with him] because they know if they post it, it will go viral. What we watched this weekend with Zohran, is that he’s a vessel for virality. Anywhere he goes people are creating viral content of him. It has allowed for an impossible level of content.” Faze said that candidates who have a similar message to Mamdani are already performing well online. These candidates are leaning hard into social media while also centering cost of living concerns and leaning hard into anti-establishment rhetoric. Graham Platner, a candidate for congress in Maine who shares a strategist with Mamdani, and New York City councilman Chi Ossé, are the “shining stars of the Democratic Party right now,” Faze said. As Mamdani took the stage at the Brooklyn Paramount, content creators across all five boroughs who helped deliver him the win posted celebratory content online. “The Democratic party has given us nothing to be hopeful about for a very long time,” said Kohn-Murphy. “Zohran is writing a new playbook.”
