Every generation has technological habits that confuse the next. Recording TV shows on a thing called a VCR. Sending free SMSes from a bootleg site. Burning CDs. Downloading wallpapers on Santa Banta. Each chore sounds arcanely archaic to the next generation.
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And the chances are that if you grew up in the early noughties and developed a taste for English music to fit in with anglicised Macaulayputras, you downloaded songs from illegal torrent sites before playing them on Winamp. You might have sung along to how it no longer matters, tried to memorise the lyrics to Lose Yourself (What comes after “Mom’s spaghetti”?) and definitely knew that space may be the final frontier, but it’s made in a Hollywood basement. And much like that, Zohran Mamdani feels like he was conceived in a left-liberal lab to tick all the boxes.
The New York mayor is a gallimaufry of values global progressives hold dear: being anti-Israel, being anti-Hindu, being anti-rich, underperforming in SAT exams, trying to pass oneself off as a different race and blaming one’s problems on everyone but oneself.
But Mamdani has managed something that none of his progressive peers has: winning while paying the mildest obeisance to the values that his various constituencies hold dear. And he does it while complaining about things without giving the impression of being bitter.
Of course, he’s aided and abetted by a mainstream press that waxes lyrical about him as though he’s the second coming of Obama and never gets pushback about his mendacities. For example, during a debate between New York mayoral hopefuls, he claimed that Muslims don’t even exist in Gujarat, an obvious mendacity that would have been called out if it had come from a white politician wearing a red cap. But then again, Kamala Harris has claimed that her grandfather was an Indian freedom fighter , despite his having been part of the Imperial Civil Service under the Crown, and not one American publication has fact-checked her. Those checks are reserved only for Tucker Carlson and white people wearing red caps.
But Zohran is exceptionally good at what critics call virtue-signalling but smart people know is making the right noise. Take his smart and masterful handling of the RSS chief’s upcoming event at Madison Square Garden , where he made his mild disdain known before pointing out that it was a private event and he couldn’t do anything to stop it. It was the kind of political manoeuvring that has seen him become the only Democrat who has been able to get more than a fair shake out of Donald Trump.
The RSS manoeuvre contained Mamdani’s method in miniature. He gave his progressive supporters the condemnation they wanted, acknowledged that the organisers had the right to hold a private event and ensured that City Hall would not be held responsible for stopping something it had no power to stop. Everyone received something from the deal, especially Mamdani.
Interestingly, Donald Trump laid down 11 rules for successful deal-making in The Art of the Deal . Mamdani’s first eight months as mayor suggest that he has followed Trump’s rules more faithfully than most people who actually work for Trump.
Rule 1: Think big
Mamdani’s campaign was full of big promises to turn the Big Apple into a utopia of affordable homes, parks, schools and union jobs. The minor hitch is that it needs money from a federal government headed by a man he labelled a “despot” and “fascist”. That didn’t stop Mamdani from smiling into Trump’s embrace with a fake New York Daily News header and the promise of something Trump had coveted long before he became POTUS: love from New York. The money might or might not arrive, but Mamdani did get Trump to release an ICE detainee, which shows that he has completely understood Trump’s maxim of thinking big.
Rule 2: Protect the downside and the upside will take care of itself
This is easier said than done, but Mamdani managed it by retaining NYPD commissioner Jessica Tisch, who also happens to be a billionaire heiress. This allowed him to distance himself from the politically charged “Defund the Police” chant and even claim credit for major crime and murder rates falling by 5.8% and 24.7% in the first six months of 2026. Mamdani did the same with the Israel Day Parade, appearing with Tisch to announce security for it while staying away, so Palestinians got the boycott they wanted while Jewish New Yorkers received the protection. The art of being present yet absent would have made Schrödinger smile.
Rule 3: Maximise your options
In Game of Thrones , Cersei Lannister explained to Littlefinger: “Power is power.” And it’s something Mamdani has learnt well. He opposed mayoral control of New York’s public schools but, hours after taking office, reversed course, asked Albany to extend mayoral control and appointed his chancellor.
Mamdani promised to use the system more democratically than his predecessors because ending it might have satisfied his progressive supporters but would have surrendered a powerful lever. Instead, he explained to parents that he was in charge.
