Zohran Mamdani on Trump, Iran war and the future of the Democratic Party — Talk to Al Jazeera

[0:00] Welcome to New York's City Hall. It's where the mayor is based. [0:09] And a hundred days ago, it was a very different picture here [0:12] as thousands of people gathered around this building to welcome Zora Mandani to his new job. [0:18] It was his first day as mayor. He is 34 years old, the city's first Muslim mayor. [0:24] And we're here to catch up with him on what those hundred days have been like [0:28] in his first sit-down interview with Al Jazeera. [0:31] Thank you for having us here today. [0:37] Very welcome. [0:38] A hundred days. It's a marker that you've set. [0:42] But so many politicians I meet see it as something more of a curse and a blessing [0:48] because it gives the opposition a good chance to say what you haven't done. [0:52] Are you worried about this hundred-day mark? [0:54] I think it's an opportunity. [0:55] I think you have to embrace these kinds of markers because it allows us an opportunity [0:59] to provide a glimpse into what these four years will be like. [1:03] And, you know, as we're coming to that hundred-day mark, we've really sought to show that we embrace [1:08] this understanding of no problem too big, no task too small. [1:12] So in the same period of time that we've secured a $1.2 billion agreement with the governor [1:17] to deliver a path to universal child care, 2,000 seats of free child care for two-year-olds this year, [1:22] 12,000 next year, a seat for every two-year-old by the end of four years, [1:26] is also the same period of time where we fill 100,000 potholes. [1:30] These are all part of the same thing. [1:32] And that money, the $1.2 billion, came very quickly in the first week. [1:37] Day eight, yes. [1:37] So that was ka-ching, first off. [1:40] But, I mean, is it easy on the campaign trail to promise, but the reality is that much harder to deliver? [1:45] Well, I think it is difficult, but nothing that is worth celebrating should be easy. [1:49] These are the things that New Yorkers need, because we're talking about a city of immense wealth, [1:55] a wealthiest city in the wealthiest country in the history of the world, [1:58] where one in four New Yorkers are also living in poverty. [2:01] And after housing, it's child care costs that are pushing New Yorkers out of the city. [2:05] So when we ask ourselves, how can we make it easier to raise a child in the city, [2:09] the answer always comes back to child care, because it costs a family about $20,000 a year per child. [2:17] And so when you make that free, you transform what's possible in the city. [2:20] So there's nearly half a million under five-year-olds in New York City, [2:25] but just 2,000 places coming with this first tranche that you've announced. [2:29] Is it enough? I mean, will people actually be impressed by that? [2:33] I think this is part... [2:35] The reason that this is worth celebrating is that it is the first step, [2:37] that we have 2,000 seats this year, 12,000 seats next year, [2:41] and then a seat for every single two-year-old by the end of four years. [2:44] Senator Elizabeth Warren often talks about child care as infrastructure. [2:48] I think it's an important way to think about it, [2:50] because when you are delivering these seats, [2:52] you're also building out new relationships between the city and vendors and contractors, [2:57] whether they're providing the services at a home-based setting [3:00] or a center-based setting or a school-based setting. [3:02] We cannot just snap our fingers and have the infrastructure ready. [3:05] We want to build something that's durable and that lasts. [3:08] Now, you talked about potholes. [3:10] Yes. [3:10] I mean, potholes is something that just annoys so many people. [3:14] Yes. [3:15] You know, whether you're a cyclist, whether you're a car driver, [3:18] whether you're just a pedestrian putting your foot into something wet and very certain. [3:21] I'm still waiting to find a pro-pothole person. [3:24] You've not found one yet. [3:25] I can't find them, if you're watching. [3:26] And again, I mean, you've made it look easy. [3:28] A hundred thousand potholes filled in less than a hundred days. [3:32] How is it possible to do that? [3:34] Because there's a government back home where I come from in Britain [3:36] that I'm sure would like to know. [3:38] I'm right the way around the world, too. [3:40] Well, we have something, a secret sauce here in New York City, [3:42] which is our municipal workforce. [3:44] There are more than 300,000 New Yorkers who work for this city, [3:47] and they are the beating heart of everything that has been impressive [3:50] about these last hundred or so days. [3:52] We've seen when it comes to the hundred thousand potholes, [3:55] these are the hardworking men and women of our Department of Transportation. [3:58] I actually was just on Staten Island with them to fill that hundred thousandth pothole in ourselves. [4:03] And what we've learned is that this is the most potholes that have been filled in this city [4:07] in this period of time for over a decade. [4:09] And it's not the end of their work. [4:11] After they finish filling potholes, they're going to get to the structural cause of a pothole [4:15] and repave more than a thousand miles of roadway across the city, [4:20] which is the distance between New York City and Miami. [4:22] So it's small things that in turn can make a big difference? [4:26] Yes, and I think if you want someone to believe in the promise of a transformative vision [4:30] of universal child care, of fast and free buses, [4:33] you have to first deliver on the thing that diminishes their faith on a daily basis. [4:38] It may not seem like much, but if you are driving your car or you are riding your bike [4:42] and you hit the same pothole every single day, [4:45] why would you trust city government in its ability to deliver something [4:48] that you have never seen at that scale when it can't even do this? [4:51] So for us, it really gets back to this tenet of what was initially called sewer socialism, [4:56] what we now think of in some ways as sidewalk socialism, [4:59] that to deliver on the most expansive part of your vision, [5:02] start with the things that are causing people to lose their faith. [5:05] So you can fill potholes, and you've proved it, [5:08] but you can't fill the budget black hole. [5:10] I mean, that is seriously big, right? [5:12] It's more than $5 billion that you are missing to run this city at the moment. [5:18] Does that keep you up at night? [5:20] It is definitely a source of anxiety for any of us who are here in city government [5:24] because this is the largest fiscal deficit that our city has seen since the Great Recession, [5:29] and frankly, it dwarfs even that. [5:31] We have brought that deficit down to $5.4 billion, [5:34] and it is now the subject of conversations we're having with our partners at the state level in Albany. [5:39] We're encouraged by those conversations, [5:41] and we've put forward a vision which is that we need to get out of a structural crisis such as this [5:46] with a structural solution, [5:48] and that means taxing the wealthiest New Yorkers, [5:50] the most profitable corporations, that a little bit more, [5:53] and ending the drain that has long characterized the city and the state's fiscal relationship. [5:56] So those wealthy people, they see it as a war on wealth, [6:00] that you want to take another 2% for those who earn over a million dollars. [6:06] Big companies would see less in their profits. [6:09] You're happy with that? [6:10] Well, I would say that this is also what it means to provide world-class services in a world-class city. [6:16] We are so thankful for everyone who calls the city home. [6:19] We want to make it a place where you can afford it no matter how much money you make, [6:22] and part of that is ensuring that we resolve a fiscal crisis [6:27] without putting it on the backs of working and middle-class New Yorkers. [6:30] And as you said, we're talking about increasing personal income taxes by 2% on New Yorkers [6:35] who make a million dollars or more a year. [6:37] We're talking about the most profitable corporations. [6:39] This isn't somebody who is making $100,000, $200,000, $300,000 a year [6:44] or a small business that's just about breaking even. [6:47] This is about those who are making enough money that they can afford to pay a little bit more [6:51] so that the city can be on a firm financial footing. [6:54] And you've just announced today that 62% of the people living here [6:57] don't really meet the true cost of living in their incomes. [7:01] That's about 5 million New Yorkers. [7:03] This is the most expensive city in the United States of America, [7:06] and we have to take every single tool that we have to make it more affordable [7:10] because what we've seen is that in that same report it revealed [7:14] working-class New Yorkers are four times as likely to leave this city than wealthy New Yorkers. [7:19] For all of the conversation about a potential exodus as a result of changing fiscal policy, [7:24] there's a real exodus of working-class New Yorkers that has been taking place for years. [7:28] And it's also one that has disproportionately impacted certain sets of New Yorkers. [7:33] From 2000 to 2020, 200,000 black New Yorkers left this city. [7:38] And also your frontline workers, your healthcare professionals, your paramedics, your police, your firefighters. [7:45] I mean, all of these people are leaving the city because they can't afford to live here. [7:49] And you can feel it when you go around the city. [7:52] You know, I'm currently getting allergy shots so that my wife and I can get cats. [7:56] And every week I go for, you know, two shots, one here, one here. [7:59] And the other week I was in the elevator going up for the shot, [8:03] and a nurse across from me let out a deep sigh. [8:05] And I asked her, you know, how's your day? [8:07] She said, it's good, but it's not over yet. [8:09] I said, what do you mean? [8:10] She said, well, when the shift is done, I have to get back home. [8:13] I said, how long is your commute? [8:14] She said, two hours. [8:15] And I asked her where she lived, and it was out of New York State. [8:18] That's how far people are traveling to find a place that they can afford to rent. [8:22] They're living in Connecticut, in Jersey City. [8:24] They're living in Pennsylvania because they can't afford a place here anymore. [8:27] And that's not sustainable, is it? [8:29] I mean, I had a friend I was speaking to about this very thing, needed elder care for his mother. [8:34] They had to come from two hours away because of that very reason. [8:38] They can't afford to live in this city. [8:40] It's going the wrong way. [8:41] How do you turn it around? [8:43] Well, I think at the core of it, you have to make the focus of your work, [8:47] delivering for working-class New Yorkers, [8:49] and making this a city that working-class New Yorkers don't just build, [8:52] but can also live in. [8:54] Because if we do not do this, we will reduce the city into a museum, [8:58] of a place where working-class people could once live. [9:01] We want it to be a living, breathing testament to the possibility for working-class New Yorkers. [9:06] So should the big banks, the big corporations that headquarter here, [9:09] should they be paying more? [9:10] I do think so. [9:11] I think that the most profitable corporations, the wealthiest New Yorkers, [9:15] can afford to pay a little bit more. [9:16] And they can afford to do so not for the sake of it, [9:20] but because this money will then be put back into that same city that we all live in. [9:24] And that is at the heart of this. [9:25] When we as socialists believe in the importance of public service and public goods, [9:31] we know that at its core is a recognition of the importance of public excellence. [9:36] We want to make clear that every dollar in our city budget is a dollar being spent at its best possible use. [9:42] We want to convince people to stay here not through a rhetorical debate, [9:46] but rather through the services they see. [9:47] And potholes are one example of that. [9:50] The other example here is child care. [9:52] It's housing. It's public transit. [9:53] But you were saying that you haven't got the money yet from state [9:57] and that you need permission from them, in effect, to raise these taxes. [10:03] Can you persuade them that that's going to happen? [10:06] And if not, you're stuck. [10:08] You are really stuck at the moment. [10:09] I'm encouraged by the conversations we've been having with the state. [10:12] The state has a budget that is technically due on April 1st, [10:16] but those conversations tend to continue, and that's what's happening right now. [10:19] And what I'm heartened by, frankly, is that for a long time, [10:22] the relationship between the mayor of New York City and the governor of New York State [10:26] has been one that has been quite tense, [10:29] especially when you look at the predecessors in these positions. [10:32] The relationship I have with our governor is one that's far more productive, [10:35] and I've been heartened by the fact that our governor has made a commitment already [10:39] for $1.6 billion to the city's fiscal health, [10:42] as well as that $1.2 billion towards the universal child care plan. [10:46] Tell me about your relationship with the president, [10:48] because that's an important one, too. [10:50] You have the second hardest job in America. [10:53] John Lindsay said so, yes. [10:54] He has the hardest job in America. [10:57] Does he help or hinder you? [10:59] You know, I've been appreciative of the conversations I've had with the president. [11:03] They've been ones that have been productive [11:05] and ones that have focused on the city that we both love, [11:08] which is New York City. [11:09] And in those conversations, we are candid with each other [11:12] about places of disagreement, of which there are many, [11:14] but also looking for where are the places that we could work together. [11:19] In this last meeting that we had in the Oval Office, [11:21] I presented the president with a plan that would build [11:24] the most amount of housing units in a single development [11:26] since the mid-1970s. [11:29] This would be 12,000 homes in Queens. [11:31] It would generate more than 30,000 jobs. [11:34] The president was interested. [11:35] That's a conversation that continues. [11:37] And in the midst of that, I also made clear to the president [11:39] my continued opposition to ICE raids, [11:43] the nature of them as cruel and inhumane, [11:45] and the fact that the morning of that meeting, [11:47] ICE had detained a Columbia student. [11:50] And after I spoke with the president about that, [11:51] I mentioned a few other individuals who had been detained [11:54] in or around Columbia over the last few months and years. [11:57] He then called me 30 minutes after the meeting [11:59] and told me that he had made the decision [12:02] to release that Columbia student. [12:03] She is now released as well as two additional cases [12:08] which have had action to take. [12:08] So you have clout with the president. [12:11] He's listening to you. [12:12] Well, I can just tell you that we've had those conversations. [12:14] I've been heartened by the results. [12:16] And do you trust him that he will deliver for New York? [12:19] I think we have to continue to have an active conversation. [12:23] And my job as the mayor of the city [12:25] is not to agree with the president, [12:26] but it is to advocate for this place that we both love. [12:29] And when you next meet with him, [12:32] what will you say to him about his leadership at the moment [12:36] and what you're seeing of the direction he's taking this country, [12:40] specifically with the conflict in Iran? [12:42] Well, I've made clear my very deep opposition to this war in Iran. [12:46] It is an opposition not just of a procedural nature [12:49] or a political nature, but frankly, of a moral nature. [12:52] We are speaking about a war that has killed thousands of civilians, [12:56] a war that is deeply unpopular across the city [12:59] and across this country, [13:01] not just because of what we are seeing it result in, [13:04] but also because it is utilizing tens of billions of dollars [13:07] to kill people, [13:09] money that could otherwise be spent on making life easier [13:12] for people across the city and this country. [13:14] And the very things that I often speak about [13:16] that are necessary for working-class New Yorkers [13:18] that we are told are impossible or unrealistic, [13:21] they would cost a fraction of this tens of billions [13:23] that we're seeing. [13:24] Does that frustrate you, that you're watching this money, [13:27] $900 million a day being spent on the war, [13:31] where you have projects which cost much less [13:33] that could make a huge difference? [13:34] Does that frustrate you? [13:35] I think it should frustrate all of us. [13:37] You know, I mean, Tupac said it decades ago, [13:39] it continues to be true about the fact [13:41] that we always seem to have money for war [13:43] but not to feed the poor. [13:44] And that is not the way that politics should be. [13:47] That is not what Americans want politics to be. [13:49] And at the heart of any war is a dehumanization. [13:54] And it is a dehumanization [13:55] that is never confined just to the war. [13:58] I spoke recently to a young Muslim woman [14:00] who had been attacked on a subway platform. [14:03] And she told me that before her attacker [14:06] threw her to the ground, [14:07] the first thing he told her was, [14:09] I wonder how many Iranians we killed today. [14:11] That's the dehumanization [14:12] that we are allowing to proliferate in our country. [14:14] I want to ask you about that racism [14:16] and that kind of nastiness [14:22] that you are seeing and witnessing, [14:24] that you, I know, have witnessed. [14:26] Where is that narrative coming from? [14:28] I was in New Jersey filming last week [14:31] and a man told me that my country, [14:33] the United Kingdom, [14:33] was being taken over by Muslims. [14:35] I had a frank and pretty deep conversation with him. [14:39] Couldn't persuade him otherwise. [14:41] But where is that narrative coming from? [14:44] You know, I think that there is a real rise [14:47] in not just misinformation, [14:50] but also a hysteria [14:52] that comes through [14:54] what our social media algorithms incentivize [14:57] and also what our politics has begun to incentivize. [15:00] And I do not let it dissuade me from the job at hand. [15:04] I do not let it distract me from the fact [15:06] that most New Yorkers do not feel this way. [15:08] It is, however, something that has become a part of our politics. [15:12] And to be candid with you, [15:15] it is not exclusive to any one political party. [15:18] We have allowed this kind of bigotry [15:20] to permeate across the entirety of our politics. [15:23] And there have been too many [15:25] who have sought to characterize [15:27] their embrace of this bigotry [15:29] as if it is the embrace [15:31] of a realistic, necessary kind of politics. [15:34] And do you think this conflict [15:35] is driving it even more? [15:37] I mean, you'd almost get a sense [15:40] from some of these Pentagon briefings [15:42] of a religious war that's going on. [15:44] You know, I can just tell you [15:45] that my heart broke [15:46] when that young woman told me [15:48] what her attacker had said to her. [15:50] And it broke because she was someone [15:53] who has always known herself [15:55] of belonging to this city. [15:57] And the rest of the phone call, [15:59] she used it to emphasize the importance [16:01] of the City University of New York [16:02] and advocating for increased funding. [16:04] And I so loved it [16:05] because that's what we should [16:06] have been speaking about. [16:07] But instead, here was a young person [16:09] who had been reduced [16:10] to their religious identity, [16:12] who had been attacked [16:12] because someone had learned [16:17] through our politics [16:18] that Muslims could be considered [16:21] as if imposters, [16:22] as if an imposition on this place [16:25] that we all call home, [16:26] when in reality all of us belong here. [16:28] This is all the home for all of us. [16:30] Do you think you can change that [16:31] in four years? [16:33] You know, I think it is a hard task [16:35] to take on bigotry, [16:38] but I think it's a necessary [16:38] and an urgent one. [16:40] I think that what really gives me [16:43] a sense of inspiration [16:44] is the fact that I am not the first [16:46] looking to tackle that kind of bigotry. [16:48] There are so many who have done so [16:49] for years in the city [16:50] and I can learn much from them. [16:51] Let's think about the advice [16:53] that you might want to be giving [16:54] the Democrats right now [16:56] because we're heading towards [16:57] that midterm. [16:59] And it seems that it's a party [17:00] in the wilderness, largely at the moment. [17:02] Not quite sure where to go. [17:03] Have you set an example [17:06] and a pathway for them to follow? [17:08] I will leave that to others [17:09] to come to that conclusion. [17:11] What I will say is what I've learned [17:12] over this course of time [17:14] being in office, [17:16] chief among it is the fact [17:17] that the only real majority [17:19] in this country and in this city [17:21] is that of the working class. [17:23] And too many working class New Yorkers, [17:25] working class Americans, [17:26] do not see themselves [17:28] and their struggles [17:28] at the heart of our politics. [17:30] When I walk around this city, [17:32] the questions people ask me [17:33] are about how they can afford housing, [17:35] child care, public transit, even... [17:38] So does it need a new party [17:39] for them to believe it? [17:40] Because you've set a new path. [17:43] But if the Democrats [17:44] don't follow what you've done, [17:45] do you think perhaps a new party [17:47] is required to be the opposition [17:48] in this country? [17:49] I think that there is enough hope [17:51] within the history [17:52] of our existing party. [17:54] When I think about [17:55] the greatest mayor [17:56] in New York City's history, [17:57] Fira LaGuardia, [17:58] his relationship with FDR, [18:00] the New Deal, [18:01] all that it presented then, [18:03] we are missing that now. [18:05] And what we need to do [18:06] is to ensure [18:07] that this is a Democratic Party [18:08] that doesn't have to look [18:09] to the history books [18:10] to find a sense of ambition [18:12] that matches the scale [18:13] of a crisis, [18:14] but a party that can finally look [18:15] at working class Americans struggling [18:17] and say, [18:18] we actually have something [18:19] that we're fighting for, [18:20] not just something [18:21] we're fighting against. [18:22] Can I just ask you [18:23] about media ownership? [18:24] A lot of the big media companies [18:26] centered here in New York City. [18:28] We're seeing, you know, [18:30] they're being condensed [18:33] in terms of ownership. [18:35] The Ellison family [18:36] taking over [18:37] what seems to be [18:38] a huge number [18:38] of big American broadcast brands. [18:40] Does that worry you? [18:42] Especially since they have [18:43] such close links [18:44] to Israel and to Netanyahu. [18:45] I would say that [18:46] any kinds of corporate consolidation [18:48] is worrying for me [18:50] and for so many Americans [18:51] across this country. [18:52] It's a consolidation [18:53] we don't just see in media, [18:54] but we see it [18:55] in so many different sectors [18:56] of our lives. [18:58] And within it, [18:59] it is the suppressing [19:00] of the promise of competition. [19:03] And instead, [19:04] the feeling as if [19:04] there is no room, [19:06] not only for a New Yorker [19:08] to be able to breathe [19:10] when it comes to seeing [19:11] more options, [19:12] more ideas, [19:12] but also for a small business [19:14] that's looking to make its way. [19:15] It seems as if [19:16] they're being pushed [19:17] further and further [19:18] into the edges [19:19] of the marketplace [19:20] and of our society. [19:21] And with that in mind, [19:23] too much power [19:24] going to those tech bros, [19:25] those big businesses [19:27] that are siphoning billions [19:29] out of this economy [19:30] to the very top. [19:31] I think what we are looking for [19:34] in this country [19:35] is a greater meaning [19:38] for the word democracy. [19:39] For too long, [19:40] we've talked about it [19:40] as a value or an ideal, [19:43] and we have lost sight [19:44] of the reflections [19:45] of so many leaders [19:46] from decades ago [19:47] who would speak about the fact [19:48] that faith in democracy [19:50] diminished not because [19:51] individuals changed their mind [19:53] about the importance of it [19:54] as a political system, [19:55] but because they were tired [19:56] of being hungry. [19:57] They were tired of dreaming [19:58] of liberty on an empty stomach. [20:00] And we have to understand [20:01] that if we allow [20:03] for the concentration [20:03] of wealth and power [20:05] to continue at the pace [20:06] and scale that it has, [20:08] we will find more [20:09] and more Americans [20:10] who are disillusioned [20:12] by the politics around them [20:13] because they see it [20:14] as having an irrelevance [20:15] to any of the struggles [20:16] in their own life. [20:17] What we're looking to build here [20:18] is a city government [20:19] that New Yorkers can turn to [20:21] and say, [20:21] that is an institution [20:23] that cares about me, [20:24] that cares about my problems [20:26] and is delivering on it. [20:27] Mr. Mayor, thank you so much. [20:28] Thank you for taking the time. [20:29] Thank you. [20:30] Real pleasure.