Just days before Zohran Mamdani claimed victory, Donald Trump boasted that he was “much better looking” than the new mayor of New York City. But the 34-year-old Democrat didn’t take the bait – his icy, hilarious response echoed far beyond City Hall and froze the president in his tracks.

The moment came just as Zohran Mamdani, a 34-year-old Democratic Socialist and state assemblymember, made history by becoming the first Muslim mayor of New York City in a decisive upset that left two high-profile opponents in the dust.

Born in Uganda to Indian-Muslim parents and raised in Queens, Mamdani – the city’s youngest mayor since 1982 – was an unfamiliar name to most outside progressive circles just one year ago.

Champion of working class

Now, he’s become the face of a transformative moment in New York politics – his campaign focused on skyrocketing housing costs, struggling working-class communities, and the urgent need for systemic change.

His platform championed free bus service, universal childcare, and a rent freeze on stabilized apartments – ideas that critics dismissed as radical, but which resonated with voters fed up with the city’s affordability crisis.

In a commanding win, Mamdani defeated Independent Andrew Cuomo – the former governor – and Republican Curtis Sliwa, securing a mandate that stunned the city’s political establishment and energized a new generation of voters.

Celebrating his victory on Nov. 4 outside Brooklyn Paramount, Mamdani stood before an electric crowd and declared: “New York will remain a city of immigrants, a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants and as of tonight, led by an immigrant,” per the Guardian.

‘Communist lunatic’

President Donald Trump made it clear he wasn’t a fan. On June 25, the day after Mamdani claimed the primary, Trump shared a Truth Social post, calling the assemblyman a “100% Communist Lunatic.”

“It’s finally happened, the Democrats have crossed the line. Zohran Mamdani, a 100% Communist Lunatic, has just won the Dem Primary, and is on his way to becoming Mayor,” Trump wrote.

“We’ve had Radical Lefties before, but this is getting a little ridiculous. He looks TERRIBLE, his voice is grating, he’s not very smart, he’s got AOC+3, Dummies ALL, backing him, and even our Great Palestinian Senator, Cryin’ Chuck Schumer, is groveling over him. Yes, this is a big moment in the History of our Country!”

But, it didn’t stop there.

‘Better looking person’

Just days before Mamdani claimed his victory, Trump spoke on CBS’s 60 Minutes weighed in on the race in his hometown – and the man who would soon beat his political allies at the ballot box.

In the interview, that aired Nov. 2, Norah O’Donnell pressed Trump about comparisons between him and Mamdani. Both men, she noted, had built populist movements. Both came from Queens. Both were accused by critics of disrupting the political norm.

“Some people have compared him to a left-wing version of you, charismatic, breaking the old rules. What do you think about that?” O’Donnell asked the POTUS.

Trump, unsurprisingly, didn’t see the resemblance. With an irreverent, off-script response that was intended to poke, Trump said: “Well, I think I’m a much better-looking person than him, right?”

‘Turn the volume up!’

But Mamdani refused to trade insults and instead opted to play hardball.

During his victory speech, he stood proudly in front of supporters and delivered a direct message to the 79-year-old president: “Donald Trump, since I know you’re watching, I have four words for you: turn the volume up!”

It wasn’t just a clapback – it was a warning. Mamdani’s campaign had long positioned itself as the antithesis to Trump-era politics, especially on immigration and economic inequality. He made it clear that his mayoralty would be a direct challenge to the kind of nationalism and division Trump represents.

“If anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him,” Mamdani told supporters Nov. 4, per Reuters. “And if there is any way to terrify a despot, it is by dismantling the very conditions that allowed him to accumulate power. This is not only how we stop Trump, it’s how we stop the next one.”

But for Trump, he won’t be stopped – it’s just the beginning, he writes.

“…AND SO IT BEGINS!” he wrote on Truth Social only hours after the mayoral ballots were counted.

Sharp reply to the president

Mamdani, who succeeds Eric Adams as the mayor of New York City at a swearing-in ceremony On Jan. 1, 2026, refuses to play games with the president.

When asked about Trump’s jab at his looks, Mamdani just laughed – then dropped a dry, razor-sharp one-liner that instantly went viral. “My focus is on the cost-of-living crisis, bro” he said.

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