Video summary
Brett Cooper argues that Zohran Mamdani's election victory in New York was driven primarily by economic concerns rather than ideological alignment with socialism or communism, dispelling common misconceptions about his voter base. He emphasizes that affordability remains the single most critical issue for voters across the political spectrum, a sentiment mirrored by Donald Trump's successful campaign strategy and currently fueling public desperation for relief from high costs of living. Cooper notes that even young women, often perceived as far-left on social issues, voted for Mamdani because they shared these same economic anxieties regarding housing and groceries. The election solidified the reality that politics is increasingly defined by personality and authenticity; voters responded to Mamdani's relatable demeanor and his ability to connect with people like a "normal human being," contrasting sharply with the stiff and unrelatable image of former Governor Andrew Cuomo, whom Cooper describes as an ineffective alternative pushed upon supporters by the GOP. The discussion highlights significant differences in how candidates present themselves versus their actual governance capabilities, particularly regarding grandiose promises made during campaigns that are difficult to fulfill once in office. Cooper points out a specific instance where Mamdani initially promised free housing and groceries but later had to backtrack on these claims after facing economic realities, such as the need for funding or potential tax hikes that could drive people away. This dynamic creates an inherent advantage for challengers who can make bold promises without having previously managed the budget, whereas incumbents face immediate scrutiny over past failures to deliver. Cooper illustrates this hypocrisy with a humorous anecdote about Mamdani's victory party featuring a cash bar and expensive beer prices despite campaign rhetoric of providing free essentials, underscoring how political personas often clash with fiscal realities once administration begins. Cooper draws parallels between Mamdani and Donald Trump as two figures who thrive on entertainment value and direct engagement, though he distinguishes their authenticity levels significantly. While both enjoy being in the spotlight—Trump through his history of interacting with garbage trucks and fry cooks, and Mamdani through viral social media content like tai chi at a nursing home—they differ in how they handle accountability. Trump possesses what Cooper calls "plot armor," allowing him to explain away broken promises by claiming he is just an entertainer or comedian, whereas earnest politicians like Mamdani lack this buffer zone when their claims are proven false. This distinction suggests that while both seem authentic to the public eye, only one operates as a genuine statesman capable of delivering on complex systemic overhauls without relying on caricature defenses against criticism. The conversation concludes with broader reflections on political legacy and inherited challenges facing every administration in America. Cooper observes that leaders often leave behind significant messes for their successors, citing examples ranging from the pandemic response under Biden to economic stagnation, noting that administrations frequently "curl a steaming turd out" just before departing office. He criticizes voters' short memories for using current crises as ammunition against incumbents while ignoring similar issues faced by previous leaders four years prior. Ultimately, Cooper expresses fascination with how Mamdani will navigate the ruthless capitalist environment of New York City and whether he can deliver on his larger-than-life promises without succumbing to the same economic constraints that forced other politicians to flip-flop or retreat from their campaign platforms.
Read the full video transcript
What do you think Mondani's
election tells us or teaches us? What
did you take away from that? Um
Well, first of all, I saw a lot of
people responding and going, you know,
this means that we need to teach young
people about the dangers of socialism
and communism. And that's what, you
know, that's the response here. I
actually don't think that people were
voting for him
in large part because they were all
socialists. Like, I don't think the
majority of New Yorkers are socialists.
They were voting for him number one
because he preached about affordability
in the economy. Again, that is the
number one issue. It's the number one
issue in 2024. It's what Trump talked
about basically every single day on the
campaign trail. It's why he won. It's
why people are desperate for him to
deliver and are still, you know, trying
to be helpful. Um and it's hard to argue
with free. When you're saying I'm going
to give free housing
and free groceries. We're going to do
all of these things. People are going to
go, that sounds really great. These
things are really freaking expensive.
So, it's like it it wasn't surprising to
me at all.
I also had a lot of people asking, you
know, were you shocked that young women
voted for him? No. Like, young women are
the most far left group in history. They
are also worried about the economy and
affordability. Those two things
combined, like, obviously they were
going to vote for him. They're, you
know, much further left on all these
social issues.
Um
So, no, I think that it just solidifies
the fact that the number one thing
people are concerned about is their
futures and the economy and obviously
affordability.
And I also think it solidifies the fact
that politics really is about
personality.
And I think that we saw a major
shift, especially with Obama. And you
know, I grew up during the Obama years.
And just looking back, he brought
politics into pop culture. And he became
this pop culture figure. And then with
Trump, obviously he is an entertainer.
He connects with people on that level.
>> into politics.
>> Yes.
And
and I think that that still rings true
and people, you know,
they tried to run Cuomo thinking that he
could beat somebody like Mondani who was
going viral every single day on social
media who genuinely looks like he
enjoyed the campaign trail.
That was the similarities that I saw
with Trump and Mondani. I think that
they're, you know, two different sides
of the same coin of like Trump
loves the fight. He loves being out
there, you know, the adage is, you know,
shaking hands and kissing babies. He
loves being the McDonald's fry cook and
doing the gags and getting in the
garbage trucks, whatever it is. Mondani
loves doing the same thing. I when we
got to New York a couple weeks ago,
Alex and I were in New York for the for
that election, actually, cuz I had a
show there and was doing a bunch of
stuff for Fox. And the moment that we
landed there, my Tik Tok algorithm
completely shifted to show me all New
York stuff. I'd been kind of tuned out.
And
we got there on Sunday and I was like,
oh, obviously the moment I opened Tik
Tok, I was like, he's going to win.
Because I got served these ridiculous
videos that Cuomo was making. They were
like AI attacks on Mondani. He wasn't
actually out in the streets interacting
with anybody.
Apparently, allegedly, he hasn't even
lived in New York City since the '90s.
And he was using his daughter's address
to register himself to be able to run.
Like, a whole weird thing. And Mondani,
like, is this New Yorker and he's
speaking to New Yorkers. And I remember
sitting in our hotel room when a video
popped up
of Mondani and he was doing like tai chi
in a old folks home in New York with a
bunch of like old like female New
Yorkers. And whoever had posted it had
put this like really sad like Tik Tok
music behind it. And I was laying in bed
watching it. I was like, oh, he's kind
of cute. Alex was like, shut the [ __ ]
up. Like, [laughter]
They're getting you. That's how they get
you.
>> They're like, turn it off. Don't look at
it. But
it showed me a lot because I was like,
oh, no, he is the entertainer. He's
connecting in the same way that Trump
connects with voters where he is just
like speaking like a normal human being.
Trump, the appeal of him to so many
people, especially, you know, I love
this about him, is that he has more
money than most of us could even fathom
having. He has this insane life. He
lives in these like gold-plated mansions
and penthouses. And yet he looks
completely comfortable driving a trash
truck. He can talk to the average
American.
Um you feel heard and seen by him. You
feel like he understands your issues.
He's funny. He's relatable. And Mondani
has that same has those same attributes.
Meanwhile, Cuomo was probably the most
like
stiff, ridiculous, you know, unrelatable
politician ever.
Um and it was also unfortunate to me
that like that that's who the GOP told
us to throw our support behind. It's
like, this is the best alternative.
Like, I'm tired of having like the
better of two evils, basically. Um so, I
wasn't surprised that he won. I think it
shows us that people care about
personality. They care about
authenticity. And they care about
affordability. They want free things.
When it comes to the affordability
point,
politicians
that are the challenger always have an
advantage because they can make promises
that they haven't had to deliver on yet.
Whereas, if you're the incumbent and you
say, I'm going to do X, it's like you've
been in [ __ ] power for This was the
criticism of Kamala Harris, right? That
she had been How can you say we are
going to get in? Who's we? You are we.
>> Yep. Right? You were you then. You were
part of this. Why did you not do it
before? You've been in for 4 years.
Um
Free sounds great until someone needs to
foot the bill for it. Yeah. Uh or until
you do something with the taxes that
causes people to leave, which causes the
taxes to go down, which causes austerity
to have to kick in more, that da da da
da da.
So, I wonder how much of this
if there is more of a crunch coming, if
there is a little bit of a squeeze in
terms of the economy, finances, uh I
wonder how much he's going to result in
just a flip-flopping between the side
that's in has
come up against the physics of reality
economically, socially, etc. Uh so, the
side that's out can always make the
promise
that the side that's in can't. Yeah, and
then you just continue to like
>> I think it was like a week in
>> He rolled something back. Yes, where he
was like, I actually oh, I don't know if
I can make this like free He was talking
about some apartment complex, I believe.
And he was like, I don't really know.
Yeah, he was like, maybe not free, maybe
less expensive. Um He also immediately
This was just hilarious. People went to
his victory party expecting that there
would be free booze, free food, whatever
it is.
It was a cash bar.
And it was just like so perfect. And
there were all these posts being like,
oh, I was invited to this and I thought
after all the work that we put in, you
know, it would be free, obviously. And I
had to pay $13 for my beer.
Like, oh, well, I'm glad this is really
working out for us. And then he also
he had done this whole like
grandstanding a couple of months ago
where he was like, guys, I'm going to do
it no politician has ever said before.
Don't send me any more money. We have
enough money. We don't need any like
millionaires funding us. Don't send us
any more. The day after he was elected,
he was like, okay, so now I I need more
money. So, now I need you to keep
sending me more money. Everybody was
like, wait. Oh, wait.
Well, I thought everything was going to
be free. I thought we didn't need to do
anything. Anyway, so it's already Well,
it's one of the problems one of the
problems of the political becoming
personal of pop cultural, which is
uh
you can make claims that sound really
sexy. Uh but at some point that sort of
check needs to be cashed or the
hypocrisy can be called out of something
that you meant before that was like a
cool campaign slogan. And you're like,
oh, I did not really mean it. And it's
not it's not as if that hasn't been the
same for Trump either, right? The H-1B
visas thing, like, affordability.
Uh I think
I don't know. There is some kind of plot
armor that Trump has that because he's
so gregarious, kind of like the the
um I'm just a comedian, you know, that
kind of get away. He's like, I'm just
Trump. And that's not the standard of
your president should not be able to use
the cliche caricature of their own
surname to explain away why they didn't
do the thing that they said that they
were going to do. But I think if
somebody's a little bit more earnest
like Mondani was, uh you can't
you don't get this sort of
uh buffer zone of like him just like
bloviating his Well, you know, he he he
he he just he just says things. It's
like, well, you don't you know, you're
supposed to be a precise politician
who's statesmanlike and doing this
stuff. Uh so,
in some ways that gives you the
advantage of seeming
real, of seeming relatable, of seeming
authentic in a way that Trump seems
authentic, but he seems authentic in the
same way that a WWE character or a
Marvel villain is authentic. It's like,
well, he's just being himself. I think
>> He's larger than life. What congruent
congruent might be a good way to put it
that like he believes what he's saying,
right? But that doesn't mean that what
he's saying and what he
He believes what he's saying, but that
doesn't mean that what he believes is
accurate. Like, sometimes he just has
the the idea and out it comes. Um but
yeah, that's a that's going to be a
challenge. The bigger the promises are
that you make, the more challenge it's
going to be when you have to deliver
them when you get into office. And if
Mondani
>> Especially when you've been handed such
a mess like Trump was. And when the
promises are so grand like Mondani.
True. Well, I think that
>> larger than life in a completely It's
like overhauling the entire system of
how that city has been run.
>> Yes.
The Trump thing, the mess thing, I get.
But to
a big degree,
Biden came into a [ __ ] huge mess as
well. He came in in the middle of COVID.
And there does seem to be I don't fully
understand this, but I get the sense
that every administration sort of curls
a steaming turd out just as they're
about to depart.
>> Yeah. And goes like, good luck. Good
luck with that. We've
>> [laughter]
>> We've had to deal with this for ages.
And
I I don't I don't I don't know. That's
That's That's the new job. Yeah.
Um so, every administration has to deal
with it. It's certainly not It wouldn't
be fair to say that Biden didn't because
he entered in the middle of a [ __ ]
pandemic. Um and then had to do the
rollout for the vaccine even been
developed. And then you've got this sort
of weird balancing act you've got to do
between the two. Like, it's Trump's
vaccine, but it's our rollout, but the
anti-vax, pro-vax. Yeah. And the
lockdown started with Trump, but Biden
continued
>> then you've got to keep Yeah. Yeah,
yeah, yeah. So, um everybody has their
stuff that they inherit. And uh
I people have just got such short
memories. They've got such short
memories around
the point that you were making only 4
years ago to criticize this thing is the
exact one you're using as a like
but yeah I'll be fascinated to see what
happens with uh
with New York because you're picking
like
maybe one of the most sort of
capitalistic ruthless greed is good
archetype
>> economic center Yes, correct. I mean you
will what if you strike directly at the
the middle of that. I mean
what was the thing that Trump did? He
shut down that like parking that travel
fine that was from 77th Street down to
20th Street like Midtown had if you pass
your car through that
and he was like that's not going to
that's going to go away etc. etc.
I don't know.
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