Comedian Jon Stewart hosted a softball interview with Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani during a segment of The Daily Show this week, hailing him for his “affirmative” messaging while calling his candidacy a “Jackie Robinson moment.”
Stewart welcomed Mamdani as a breath of fresh air in politics for positing an idea as opposed to a negative message about fighting some monster.
“I think you’ve made an affirmative case for people. I think the enthusiasm that they have for you is because you have made an affirmative case that’s not about protecting something that is going to be lost or a bad man that’s over there,” Stewart said.
Stewart expressed surprise that the Democratic Party establishment only recently jumped on board with endorsements.
“It is about an idea that you have, and it surprised me that the Democratic establishment did not embrace that energy. And is that something that has bothered you? Is getting better? I mean, Hakeem Jeffries, with a brave, brave endorsement, I thought, 24 hours ago — what has that been like for you?” Stewart asked.
“You know, I think it is interesting in many ways, because our politics and the media that covers it is often focused on the question of endorsements,” responded Mamdani.
“And it is part of what gave Cuomo the sense of inevitability in the primary. He just seemed to pick up all of these different endorsements,” he continued. “And I think what we showed in many ways was that the days of endorsements deciding elections, those days have come to the end. It is the people who built up a campaign.”
Mamdani then turned the message around to say that New York City created Donald Trump and how he hopes to correct that happening in the future.
“These are the same New Yorkers, whether we are representing them in city hall or Albany or D.C., and like you said, we have been telling them time and again that all we have to offer is not Trump. But this is also the city that created Trump,” said Mamdani.
Jon Stewart even hailed his candidacy as a “Jackie Robinson moment.”
Paul Roland Bois directed the award-winning Christian tech thriller, EXEMPLUM, which has a 100% Rotten Tomatoes critic rating and can be viewed for FREE on YouTube, Tubi, or Fawesome TV. “Better than Killers of the Flower Moon,” wrote Mark Judge. “You haven’t seen a story like this before,” wrote Christian Toto. A high-quality, ad-free rental can also be streamed on Google Play, Vimeo on Demand, or YouTube Movies. Follow him on X @prolandfilms or Instagram @prolandfilms.
