Mamdani Says He Still Thinks Trump is a Fascist Even After Their Chummy White House Meeting: I’ve Said it in the Past, ‘I Say it Today’
Just hours after a shockingly convivial meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House, New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani (D) is not backing off some of his harshest criticism of the commander in chief.
In an interview which was taped Saturday and aired on Sunday’s Meet the Press, the incoming mayor told NBC’s Kristen Welker that even after his friendly chat with the president, he still regards him as a fascist.
“In that press conference with President Trump, a reporter asked you whether you believe that President Trump is in fact a fascist, a word that you’ve used in the past,” Welker said. “You were about to answer. Then, President Trump sort of jumped in. And he said, ‘That’s okay. You can just say yes. It’s easier than explaining it.’ So, Mr. Mayor-Elect, just to be very clear, do you think that President Trump is a fascist?”
“And after President Trump said that, I said, ‘yes,'” Mamdani said.
“So you do?” Welker asked.
“That’s something that I’ve said in the past, I say it today, Mamdani said.
Still, Mamdani did describe the sitdown as “productive.”
“Were you surprised by the warm welcome that you got?” Welker asked.
“I was looking forward to having the meeting with the president to speak about the needs of the eight and a half million people who call the same city we love home, and to speak frankly about the affordability crisis that is pushing so many of them out of those five boroughs,” Mamdani replied. “And I found in the meeting that I had with the president a productive one and a meeting that came back again and again to the central themes of the campaign that we ran, the cost of housing, cost of child care, the cost of groceries, the cost of utilities. And it showed that this is an opportunity to now start to deliver so that people can do more than just aspire to struggle in New York City, but actually to be able to live there.”
Welker went on to press Mamdani about whether he thinks Trump will ultimately follow through with his threats to send troops to New York City, but the incoming mayor deflected:
Welker: Did you get any assurances in your meeting, Mayor-elect Mamdani, that President Trump will not send troops into New York?
Mamdani: I told the president that the cornerstone of an affordability agenda is public safety. And that it is critically important to me. And for all that has been said and all that has been spoken about, and the tens of millions of dollars looking to make New Yorkers fearful of that question, the truth of it is in fact that I’m looking forward to working with the NYPD to deliver on that. And I shared with the president that my decision to retain Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch is in large part a recognition of the fact that in her time leading the NYPD, she has driven down crime across the five boroughs while starting to uproot corruption that was endemic in the top echelons of that department under Mayor [Eric] Adams.
Welker: And then, I’m going to follow up with you on your decision to keep Commissioner Tisch. But to this core question that I think so many New Yorkers are curious to know the answer to, what did President Trump say to you? Did he assure you he will not send troops into New York?
Mamdani: He told me that he cared deeply about public safety. I said I cared deeply about the same.
Welker: But did he say he wouldn’t send troops?
Mamdani: What I told him is that what separates New York City from anywhere else in the country is we have the NYPD. And I trust the NYPD to deliver public safety. And to me, that is something that I know that they can do, that they have done, and they will continue to do under my leadership.
Welker: So he didn’t rule it out, in your meeting?
Mamdani: I made it very clear what we wanted to do was to deliver public safety and affordability, and the NYPD would be the ones to do so.
Watch above, via NBC.
