Newsweek, November 2025
When Zohran Mamdani announced his candidacy for mayor of New York City last fall, few could have predicted his meteoric rise. In just over a year, the 34-year-old self-described Democratic socialist has gone from a rank outsider to New York City’s “main character,” as the New Yorker recently put it. On Tuesday, he triumphed over former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who ran as an independent, and Republican Curtis Sliwa to become the first Muslim mayor of New York City as well as the city’s first Indian American mayor.
Along the way, he faced continued threats from President Donald Trump, who has labeled him a “communist” who would destroy America’s largest city if elected. But like Trump, Mamdani departed from the traditional campaign playbook, harnessing the power of social media and alternative media to win over voters.
As Trump campaigned for a second term in the White House last year, he eschewed interviews with traditional media outlets and embarked on a nontraditional media tour that saw him sit down for lengthy interviews with podcasters including Joe Rogan. Trump adviser Jason Miller told Politico at the time it was a deliberate strategy aimed at reach new voters, particularly young men. The president has also long used social media to directly reach Americans, first using Twitter, now known as X, and now regularly posting on his Truth Social platform.
Mamdani’s rise in prominence has been credited to his savvy use of social media, with The Washington Post noting his upset victory over Cuomo in the Democratic primary in June was “powered by trending videos and collaborations with creators across the political spectrum.”
