Mamdani has emerged as the Democratic Party’s most central figure since three Democratic Socialists of America candidates he endorsed won congressional races in New York City last month. A speech the mayor delivered on Friday morning drew broad backlash from conservative critics who claimed he denigrated the U.S. and presented a historically inaccurate version of the nation’s past.“I’m glad he did it, it’s showing that the same country that produced Donald Trump produced Zohran Mamdani,” Khanna said in an interview Saturday. “And Zohran, as you know, is a student of history, so it was significant that he did that with George Washington’s desk with New York being the first capital of this country – people often don’t remember that, Zohran knows that.”
Mamdani delivered the address from City Hall’s Governor’s Room while sitting behind a desk once owned by President George Washington. The 15-minute speech cast a gloomy vision of the U.S. one day before the America 250 celebration, as the mayor elected to frame “American exceptionalism” through a socialist lens in which “monopolies dominate every industry” and “oligarchs buy elections.”New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani delivers a speech to mark the 250th anniversary of the United States at City Hall on Friday, July 3, 2026 in New York. (Anna Connors/The New York Times via AP, Pool)
