🔰This Is How to Fight Fascism_ Naomi Klein, AOC _ Brad Lander on Mamdani Victory.

At the celebration, I had a chance to briefly speak with Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York. The new mayor of New York City, the first Muslim mayor of New York. Your thoughts? I mean, Zohra Mamdani, of course, a historic candidate, a tremendous moment for the people of New York. We showed that we're not going to be bullied, we're not going to be intimidated. We're going to fight for working families. We're going to stand with immigrants. We're going to stand with the diversity of this city. And we're also going to make sure that, first and foremost, that this is a city that working people will not be displaced out of. What do you say to President Trump, who says he'll withhold billions of dollars from New York, make it impossible for Zohra Mamdani to govern? Well, you know, I think President Trump was born in New York City, and he knows that if you mess with New York, you mess with the whole country. And so, you know, I think this isn't a city that doesn't fight back. That's New York Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at Zohra Mamdani's victory party. I also spoke with the Canadian journalist, author and activist and professor Naomi Klein. Naomi Klein is such an incredible proof of concept of how to fight fascism. You know, Zoran, immediately after Trump's election, went out and talked to Trump voters, people who'd never voted for Trump before, black and brown people in working class neighborhoods. Didn't vilify them, just listened to them. I talked to Zoran for the first time a week after Trump's election. And what he said to me was, everything is broken for people. Like the elevator in their public housing hasn't been fixed for 10 months. Nothing is working. So it's so easy for someone like Trump to come along and be like, blame the immigrant, blame the unhoused person. And his entire campaign was about proving that if you actually meet people's real needs and raise the floor and say, okay, let's freeze the rent. Let's have free and fast buses. Let's have universal childcare. Let's address that sense of scarcity and insecurity at its root. That it can pull people back from the fascist abyss. And he won tonight. He proved that that message works. This movement, this is anti-fascism. And it is also the antithesis of fascism. Because fascists want everybody to be the same. They celebrate conformity, uniformity, sameness, hierarchy. Look, New York is the most unruly city. The entire campaign was a love letter to the diversity, linguistic, faith, cultural diversity of the city. At a time when the Republicans never stop pouring hate onto cities and make people afraid of each other, right? Naomi Klein speaking last night at Zoran Mamdani's victory party in Brooklyn. I also spoke to a New York official who also ran for mayor in the Democratic primary. Can you identify yourself and your position and what you did with Zoran Mamdani? I'm New York City Comptroller Brad Lander. You know, I was a candidate for mayor. I cross-endorsed with Zoran in the primary as it was clear that he was the candidate with the best chance to win. We took Andrew Cuomo on together in the second mayoral debate in the primary. Ranked choice voting was so significant. Ranked choice voting made a huge difference for us to build a slate, a team of people committed to a more affordable and a more humane city. And who said he can't be, Andrew Cuomo can't be anywhere near City Hall. And then I've worked really hard in the general election. Obviously, you know, to have a Muslim New Yorker and a Jewish New Yorker say we are not going to allow Andrew Cuomo or Eric Adams or Donald Trump or Elon Musk or Stephen Miller to weaponize fear and pit us against each other. The only way that we'll be safe is if we're all safe. And your response to President Trump saying any Jew who votes for Zoran is stupid. Well, what I did today was to quote Ethics of the Fathers or Pirkei Avot, which says, you know, who is wise? He who learns from everyone. And who's a fool? He who can't learn a damn thing. So Donald Trump doesn't get to tell us how to be Jewish. He sure can't tell smart from stupid. And I'll tell you this, like, if he comes for New York City, it's not going to be Donald Trump versus Zoran Mamdani. It's going to be Donald Trump versus New York City. And I think when they write the history books, maybe they'll say when Trump started to lose was when he came for New York after we elected Zoran. And just like we said, good riddance to Andrew Cuomo would do the same to Donald Trump. So you're the city controller. You know what it means for President Trump to say he would pull billions from the city. Yeah, look, I mean, Elon Musk stole $80 million from New York in February and Eric Adams couldn't say a damn word about it. So having a mayor who's going to stand up and fight on our behalf, bring us together, organize us to help stand up, that's how we win. That's our money. It's not Donald Trump's money, however much he might think it is. So this is certainly a message to all of the United States, not only the Republican Party, but the Democratic Party as well, which is clearly fighting back. I mean, the leader of the Democrats in the Senate, Senator Schumer, never even endorsed the Democratic candidate for mayor, Zoran Mamdani. What do you say to him? What do you say to the party? In the last 24 hours, Donald Trump endorsed Andrew Cuomo. Stephen Miller endorsed Andrew Cuomo. Elon Musk endorsed Andrew Cuomo. So Democrats who couldn't stand up and say, we're with Zoran in a fight against that MAGA cabal, we need a party that is broad. It's got to include moderates. Of course it does. And when they win primaries in the right seats where they're representing their constituents, then of course we'll go support them. But when progressive candidates like Zoran win, then moderates have got to support them as well. That's the only way we could build a popular front that's going to be sufficient to stand up to this authoritarian president. That's New York City Comptroller Brad Lander at Zoran Mamdani's mayoral victory party at the Brooklyn Paramount. Subscribe to The Daily Podcast and so much more.