Just days after being sworn into office, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has found himself in the international spotlight, after Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was captured and taken to New York by U.S. authorities. Maduro and his wife will stand trial on drug trafficking and weapons charges.
On Saturday, Mamdani revealed that he had spoken with President Donald Trump to voice his objection to the military’s operation in Venezuela. “I called the president and spoke with him directly to register my opposition to this act and to make clear that it was an opposition based on being opposed to a pursuit of regime change, to the violation of federal international law and a desire to see that be consistent each and every day,” the new mayor told reporters.
Mamdani’s comments, and his willingness to wade into international affairs, did not come as a surprise to MS NOW’s Antonia Hylton. On Sunday, she told her fellow co-host of “The Weekend: Primetime,” Ayman Mohyeldin, “I’ve seen some people in the city feel surprised that he felt the need to comment on this. I wasn’t surprised for a few reasons.
“The first is, throughout the campaign, he’s made clear that he would not hesitate to share his sort of moral beliefs, his stance on different issues — whether they are direct, sort of New York City local ones or they’re international ones that affect people who live here in New York City. He has not been shy about any of that.”
Hylton said the only element that may have come as a surprise was how seemingly easy it was for the democratic socialist to get in contact with the president. “On a day when President Trump was incredibly busy, as many people have pointed out, he actually took Zohran Mamdani’s phone call,” she said.
She added: “He ignores people, like journalists who he has good relationships with, [they] sometimes have to call him three, four or five times before he actually picks up the phone. Sounds like he answered for Mamdani, though.”
Mohyeldin said Mamdani’s approach to Trump could offer “a bit of a template for what people are expecting from Democratic leaders.” He noted that Mamdani did not focus on Maduro’s “oppressive regime” or “authoritarian practices,” but rather international law and regime change.
The MS NOW host added: “As the mayor of New York City, a person who doesn’t have much say in foreign policy or international law or international relations … Mamdani has been very consistent with moral clarity, whether it was about Gaza or whether it’s about Venezuela.”
Mohyeldin said Democrats often find themselves weighing the best “political move” in a situation, but argued that “once you get bogged down into that kind of political calculation, you sometimes compromise the moral clarity.” “Are we in the business of regime change? Have we learned anything from our past mistakes? Do we care about international law?” Mohyeldin asked of Democrats. “When you start putting those things in order, it does not whatsoever dilute Nicolás Maduro’s oppression in Venezuela.” He added: “If you actually upheld international law, if you actually held world leaders who are indicted by criminal courts internationally to account, if you did that, you would actually be strengthening the international mechanism to hold people like Nicolás Maduro [accountable]. And that’s why I think his comment was an important comment for Democrats to see.” You can watch the full discussion between Hylton and Mohyeldin in the clip at the top of the page.
Allison Detzel is an editor/producer for MS NOW. Recommended
