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LOADINGERROR LOADING The new mayor-elect of New York City, Zohran Mamdani, did not waste any time. “The sun may have set over our city this evening,” he began his victory speech on Tuesday night, “but as Eugene Debs once said, I can see the dawn of a better day for humanity.” The immediate name-check of the famous socialist, political candidate and labor activist who ran for president while in prison for political dissent, was maybe not standard fare for a candidate’s victory speech. But it was just the start for Mamdani, the democratic socialist who ran for mayor of New York City on a platform of affordability that included services such as free buses, rent freezes, and universal child care. As he noted in his speech, he never apologized for his stances as a democratic socialist. Advertisement Instead, he issued a challenge to President Donald Trump and to the broader political status quo. “If anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him,” Mamdani said. “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 is how we stop the next one.” “So Donald Trump, since I know you’re watching. I have four words for you: Turn the volume up,” Mamdani added, enunciating each word. The Trump administration has been turning the screws on Democratic-run cities, including by sending troops and federal agents into blue cities to conduct massive immigration raids. The result has been an environment of fear for immigrants, U.S. citizens being caught up in the raids and officials clashing with protesters who attempt to speak out about the policies. Advertisement Trump has repeatedly attacked Mamdani, characterizing him as an extremist, a communist and an antisemite — and threatening to cut funding to New York City if Mamdani were elected. “New York will remain a city of immigrants, built by immigrants, powered by immigrants, and as of tonight, led by an immigrant,” Mamdani said Tuesday night. “So hear me, President Trump, when I say this: To get to any of us, you will have to get through all of us. When we enter City Hall in 58 days, expectations will be high. We will meet them.” ReportingWhat'sReal Your SupportFuelsOur Mission Your SupportFuelsOur Mission Join HuffPost Today This Election Day we’re cutting through the noise. With no billionaire influence or angles, we’re here to inform voters and help you make sense of the election day chaos. By becoming a member you help power this mission. We remain committed to providing you with the unflinching, fact-based journalism everyone deserves. Thank you again for your support along the way. We’re truly grateful for readers like you! Your initial support helped get us here and bolstered our newsroom, which kept us strong during uncertain times. Now as we continue, we need your help more than ever. We hope you will join us once again. We remain committed to providing you with the unflinching, fact-based journalism everyone deserves. Thank you again for your support along the way. We’re truly grateful for readers like you! Your initial support helped get us here and bolstered our newsroom, which kept us strong during uncertain times. Now as we continue, we need your help more than ever. We hope you will join us once again. Support HuffPost Already a member? Log in to hide these messages. He also took aim at the political structures of New York, noting the underdog nature of his campaign: He rose from a little-known New York state assemblyman to take on former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo — the son of another former New York governor, Mario Cuomo — in the mayoral campaign. Advertisement “For as long as we can remember, the working people of New York have been told by the wealthy and the well-connected that power does not belong in their hands. Fingers bruised from lifting boxes on the warehouse floor, palms calloused from delivery bike handlebars, knuckles scarred from kitchen burns. These are not hands that have been allowed to hold power. And yet over the last 12 months, you have dared to reach for something greater,” Mamdani said. “Tonight, against all odds, we have grasped it. The future is in our hands.”
