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Zohran Mamdani confirmed to reporters that he spoke to former President Barack Obama on the phone soon after declaring victory in New York City’s Democratic primary in June.
“It was a call that I was honored to receive,” Mamdani said during an anti-Trump event in the Bronx on Thursday.
The 33-year-old mayoral hopeful told reporters that after winning the primary, he discussed with Obama “the importance of hope in our politics and the ways in which we govern to deliver on that.” Mamdani said they focused on the campaign he ran, calling it an “honor to receive that time” with the former president.
“We spoke about the importance in a moment such as this, where politics is often characterized by a language of darkness, the necessity of hope in how we speak and how we orient ourselves to the world,” Mamdani said.
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The democratic socialist said he is “lucky” to have an example in the former president of how to rise above the barrage of criticism that has been thrown his way on the campaign trail.
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During an anti-Trump stop on Staten Island on Wednesday, Mamdani was told to “go back to where you came from” and called a “commie” by some protesters outside his event.
“I know that those New Yorkers are representative just of themselves. And yet, sadly, that is what politics has become for far too many,” Mamdani said.
Mamdani answered a follow-up question about his discussion with Obama during the final stop on his anti-Trump tour across New York City in Queens on Friday.
The Democratic nominee said Obama’s “stature speaks for itself.”
“It was an honor to have that conversation, and that presents for us an opportunity to continue to build on both the way in which we practice our politics, but also, as the borough president said, it is one thing to inspire hope. Our responsibility now is also to deliver on and take justice seriously,” Mamdani said.
And as he spoke to reporters in his home borough, Mamdani began looking to the future, reflecting on the reality that he could very likely become the mayor of New York City.
“The first 100 days, the first year, the first term of what it means to be the mayor of the city, such that the New Yorkers who got to vote for the very first time, more than 30,000 we registered in the last ten days, but they continue to vote because they continue to see themselves in their democracy,” Mamdani said.
The details of Obama’s call to Mamdani were first reported by The New York Times on Wednesday.
According to the reporting, Obama congratulated Mamdani, offered him advice about governing, and the two discussed the importance of hope during a dark time politically, citing people with knowledge of the conversation.
The report also details how Obama’s former aides, including the “Obama Bros” of “Pod Save America,” Jon Favreau and Dan Pfieffer, have been in communication with Mamdani’s Democratic strategist, Morris Katz.
Obama has built a reputation since leaving office in 2016 for his strategic participation in politics.
The news about his call to Mamdani broke as ABC News reported this week that Obama praised a group of Texas Democrats for fleeing the state to avoid voting for an ever-controversial Trump-backed redistricting bill, calling it “inspiring.”
